Skip to main content
PlainSpell

tower

tow·erUK /ˈtaʊ.ə(ɹ)/noun, verb

tower is spelled T-O-W-E-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables (tow·er). It appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,992nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tower means “A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tower is towers.

How many letters and syllables are in tower?

Letters5: T-O-W-E-R
Syllables2: tow·er
In writing32 times per million words; the 2,992nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 tower?

Tower appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,992nd 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 tower?

  • UK /ˈtaʊ.ə(ɹ)/
  • [ˈtɑːə]
  • [ˈtɑː]

As a noun (“One who tows”): /ˈtəʊ.ə(ɹ)/, /ˈtoʊ.əɹ/.

Tower has 2 syllables, split tow·er in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tower.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Gt59514-tower_(agent_noun).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with tower?

6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tower from its last stressed vowel (/aʊə/, British pronunciation):

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 tower

  • towers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • towre
  • towering participle, present
  • towered participle, past

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

What does tower mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A tall, narrow structure (significantly taller than it is wide, either standing alone or forming part of a larger structure.

    an observation tower, an isolated watch tower, a church tower, conning tower

  2. 2

    A very tall open-framed structure on which communications devices are installed.

    signal tower, radio tower, cell tower

  3. 3

    A similarly framed structure with a platform or enclosed area on top.

    observation tower, watch tower

  4. 4

    A control tower.

  5. 5

    A skyscraper.

    The Sears Tower

  6. 6

    An item of various kinds, such as a computer case, that is higher than it is wide.

  7. 7

    A strong refuge; a defence.

  8. 8

    Each of a set of information technology concerns within a business, which are treated separately so that they can be handled by different providers.

  9. 9

    One who tows.

verb

  1. 1

    To be very tall; to reach a high height.

    The office block towered into the sky.

  2. 2

    To be high or lofty; to soar.

  3. 3

    obsoleteTo soar into.

noun

as Tower
  1. 1

    Denoting the system of weights used by the Saxon and Norman English kings in their minting of coins.

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

Tower in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtour (tall, narrow structure), la maison dieu ((cartomancy) The Tower (Tarot card))
GermanTurm (tall, narrow structure), der Turm ((cartomancy) The Tower (Tarot card))
Portuguesetorre (tall, narrow structure), casa de Deus, Casa de Deus ((cartomancy) The Tower (Tarot card))
Spanishtorre, crochel, burche (tall, narrow structure)

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 tower come from?

From Middle English tour, tur, tor, from Old English tūr, tor, torr ("tower; rock"; > English tor) and Old French tour, toer, tor; both from Latin turris (“a tower”), Ancient Greek τύρρις (túrrhis) (Hesychius), τύρσις (túrsis). Displaced native Middle English stepel for the general sense of "tower". Compare Scots tour, towr, towre (“tower”), West Frisian toer (“tower”), Dutch toren (“tower”), German Turm (“tower”), Danish tårn (“tower”), Swedish torn (“tower”), Icelandic turn (“tower”), Welsh tŵr. Doublet of tor, tourelle, and turret.

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

What to look up after tower