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PlainSpell

tie

/taɪ/noun, verb

tie is spelled T-I-E: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,941st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “tie vs tye” about 390 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, tie means “A knot; a fastening” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tie is ties.

How many letters and syllables are in tie?

Letters3: T-I-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing32 times per million words; the 2,941st most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like

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 common is tie?

Tie appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,941st 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 tie?

  • /taɪ/
  • /təɪ/
  • /toɪ/

Tie 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-tie.ogg, En-au-tie.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with tie

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

tie vs tye390 G

Sounds like: Thai (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: tye.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of tie

  • ties plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • tying participle, present
  • tied participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tie mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A knot; a fastening.

  2. 2

    A knot of hair, as at the back of a wig.

  3. 3

    A necktie (item of clothing consisting of a strip of cloth tied around the neck). See also bow tie, black tie.

  4. 4

    A lace-up shoe.

    Oxford ties; Derby ties

  5. 5

    A twist tie, a piece of wire embedded in paper, strip of plastic with ratchets, or similar object which is wound around something and tightened.

  6. 6

    A connection between people or groups of people, especially a strong connection.

    the sacred ties of friendship or of duty

  7. 7

    A structural member firmly holding two pieces together.

    Ties work to maintain structural integrity in windstorms and earthquakes.

  8. 8

    USA horizontal wooden or concrete structural member that supports and ties together rails.

verb

  1. 1

    To twist (a string, rope, or the like) around itself securely.

    Tie this rope in a knot for me, please.

  2. 2

    To form (a knot or the like) in a string or the like.

    Tie a knot in this rope for me, please.

  3. 3

    To attach or fasten (one thing to another) by string or the like.

    Tie him to the tree.

  4. 4

    To secure (something) by string or the like.

    Tie your shoes.

  5. 5

    To have the same score or position as another in a competition or ordering.

    They tied for third place.

  6. 6

    USTo have the same score or position as (another) in a competition or ordering.

    He tied me for third place.

  7. 7

    To unite (musical notes) with a line or slur in the notation.

  8. 8

    UScolloquialdatedTo believe; to credit.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tie in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Spanishlazo, vínculo, atadura (strong connection between people), empate, empatadera (sports: tie score), eliminatoria (sports: a meeting between two players or teams…)
Frenchégalité, match nul, remise (sports: tie score), liaison de prolongation, liaison de tenue (curved line connecting two notes of the same…), lier (to attach or fasten with string)
GermanUnentschieden, Remis (sports: tie score), binden (to attach or fasten with string)
Portugueseempate (sports: tie score), atar, amarrar (to attach or fasten with string)

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 tie come from?

From Middle English teye (“cord, chain”), from Old English tēag, tēah (“cord, chain”), from Proto-West Germanic *taugu, from Proto-Germanic *taugō, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dewk-. Compare Danish tov, Icelandic taug.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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