thyme
/taɪm/noun
thyme is spelled T-H-Y-M-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, thyme means “Any plant of the labiate genus Thymus, such as garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris), a warm, pungent aromatic, that is much used to give a relish to…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of thyme is thymes.
How many letters and syllables are in thyme?
| Letters | 5: T-H-Y-M-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,420th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| 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); 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is thyme?
Thyme appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th 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 thyme?
- US /taɪm/
- Australia /tɑem/
- [tɑe̯m]
Thyme 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-thyme.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Ajshul-thyme.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with thyme
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: time (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with thyme?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as thyme from its last stressed vowel (/aɪm/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: methy.
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 thyme
- thymes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does thyme mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any plant of the labiate genus Thymus, such as garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris), a warm, pungent aromatic, that is much used to give a relish to seasoning and soups.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Thyme in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense plant of the genus Thymus – see also wild thyme:
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 thyme come from?
From Middle English tyme, from Old French thym, from Latin thymum, from Ancient Greek θύμον (thúmon). Displaced native Old English boþen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).