total
/ˈtoʊ.tl̩/noun, adjective, verb
total is spelled T-O-T-A-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 162 times per million words in written English, the 625th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, total means “An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of total is totals.
How many letters and syllables are in total?
| Letters | 5: T-O-T-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 162 times per million words; the 625th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 total?
Total appears 162 times per million words in written English, the 625th 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 total?
- UK /ˈtəʊ.tl̩/
- US /ˈtoʊ.tl̩/
- US [tʰoʊ̯ɾɫ]
Total 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: En-us-total.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with total
Also written: totalled.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with total?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as total (/oʊtl/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lotta.
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 total
- totals plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- totall
- more total comparative
- most total superlative
- totaling US, participle, present
- totalling UK, participle, present
- totaled US, participle, past
- totalled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does total mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An amount obtained by the addition of smaller amounts.
A total of £145 was raised by the bring-and-buy stall.
- 2
informalSum.
The total of 4, 5 and 6 is 15.
adjective
- 1
Entire; relating to the whole of something.
The total book is rubbish from start to finish. The total number of votes cast is 3,270.
- 2
Complete; absolute.
He is a total failure.
- 3
Defined on all possible inputs.
The Ackermann function is one of the simplest and earliest examples of a total computable function that is not primitive recursive.
- 4
Left total: Such that for every x in X there is a y in Y with x R y.
- 5
Such that any two elements are comparable, i.e. for all a and b, either a ≤ b, or b ≤ a.
verb
- 1
To add up; to calculate the sum of.
When we totalled the takings, we always got a different figure.
- 2
To equal a total of; to amount to.
That totals seven times so far.
- 3
USslangTo demolish; to wreck completely. (from total loss)
Honey, I’m OK, but I’ve totaled the car.
- 4
To amount to; to add up to.
It totals nearly a pound.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Total in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | total , somme , entier, tout , totaliser |
| German | Gesamtbetrag, Gesamtsumme , Summe , ganz, gesamt , komplett |
| Portuguese | total , soma , completo |
| Spanish | total, montante , suma , hacer pelota, inutilizar |
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 total come from?
From Middle English total, from Old French total, from Medieval Latin tōtālis, from tōtus (“all, whole, entire”) + -ālis, the former element of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Oscan touto (“community, city-state”), Umbrian 𐌕𐌏𐌕𐌀𐌌 (totam, “tribe”, acc.), Old English þēod (“a nation, people, tribe”), from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂ (“people”). More at English Dutch, English thede.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).