tariff
/ˈtæɹəf/noun, verb
tariff is spelled T-A-R-I-F-F. The wrong spelling people search most is tarrif: about 1,050 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 2 in 10 of all searches for the word. Tariff is a noun meaning “A system of government-imposed duties levied on imported or exported goods; a list of such duties, or the…”. The plural of tariff is tariffs.
How many letters and syllables are in tariff?
| Letters | 6: T-A-R-I-F-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, tarrif, about 1,050 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell tariff?
Tariff is spelled T-A-R-I-F-F. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 3 in 10 of the searches for tariff in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is tariff?
Tariff appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th 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 tariff?
- UK /ˈtæɹɪf/
- US /ˈtæɹəf/
- US /ˈtɛɹəf/
Tariff has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tariff.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tariff
- tariffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tariffing participle, present
- tariffed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tariff mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A system of government-imposed duties levied on imported or exported goods; a list of such duties, or the duties themselves.
- 2
A schedule of rates, fees or prices.
Under a peak/off-peak electricity tariff, you pay a lower rate for the power when demand is less.
- 3
UKA sentence determined according to a scale of standard penalties for certain categories of crime.
verb
- 1
To levy a duty on (something).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tariff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | droit de douane |
| German | Tarif, Zoll , mit einem Zoll belegen |
| Portuguese | tarifa, taxa alfandegária , tarifar |
| Spanish | arancel , poner aranceles, imponer aranceles , tarifa |
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 tariff come from?
From Italian tariffa (“arithmetical table; list of customs duties”), from Arabic تَعْرِيف (taʕrīf, “notification, explanation”). Equivalent to Portuguese and Spanish tarifa and the French tarif and first attested in 1592.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).