tar
/tɑɹ/noun, verb
tar is spelled T-A-R: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tar means “Coal tar” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tar is tars.
How many letters and syllables are in tar?
| Letters | 3: T-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.3 times per million words; the 12,397th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tar?
Tar appears 4.3 times per million words in written English, the 12,397th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tar?
- UK /tɑː/
- US /tɑɹ/
- US [tʰɑɻ]
Tar has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tar.ogg, En-au-tar.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with tar
Also written: tara.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with tar?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tar from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: art, rat, tra, rta.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tar
- tars plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tarring participle, present
- tarred participle, past
- tār
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tar mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Coal tar.
- 2
(often typeset "tar" in USA) A solid residual byproduct of tobacco smoke.
- 3
datedslangA sailor (because of the traditional tarpaulin clothes).
- 4
Ellipsis of black tar heroin.
- 5
A program for archiving files, common on Unix systems.
- 6
A file produced by such a program.
- 7
A Persian long-necked, waisted string instrument, shared by many cultures and countries in the Middle East and the Caucasus.
- 8
A single-headed round frame drum originating in North Africa and the Middle East.
- 9
Alternative form of tara (“Indian coin”).
verb
- 1
To coat with tar.
- 2
To besmirch.
The allegations tarred his name, even though he was found innocent.
- 3
To create a tar archive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tar in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | goudron |
| German | Teer , Teerjacke , teeren |
| Portuguese | alcatrão , marujo , alcatroar , tar |
| Spanish | alquitrán, galipote, chapopote, chapapote , alquitranar , chapopote bituminoso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tar come from?
From Middle English ter, terr, tarr, from Old English teoru, from Proto-West Germanic *teru, from Proto-Germanic *terwą, from Proto-Indo-European *derwo-, from *dóru (“tree”). See also Saterland Frisian Taar, West Frisian tarre, tar, Dutch teer, German Teer; also Welsh derw (“oaks”), Lithuanian dervà (“pinewood, resin”), Russian де́рево (dérevo, “tree”), Bulgarian дърво́ (dărvó, “tree”). More at tree.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).