urn
/ɝn/noun, verb
urn is spelled U-R-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,209th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, urn means “A vase with a footed base” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of urn is urns.
How many letters and syllables are in urn?
| Letters | 3: U-R-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,209th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is urn?
Urn appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,209th 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 urn?
- UK /ɜːn/
- US /ɝn/
Urn 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-urn.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with urn
Sounds like: earn (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with urn?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as urn from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: run.
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 urn
- urns plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- urning participle, present
- urned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does urn mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A vase with a footed base.
- 2
A metal vessel for serving tea or coffee.
- 3
A vessel for the ashes or cremains of a deceased person.
- 4
Any place of burial; the grave.
- 5
A measure of capacity for liquids, containing about three gallons and a half, wine measure. It was half the amphora, and four times the congius.
- 6
A hollow body shaped like an urn, in which the spores of mosses are contained; a spore case; a theca.
verb
- 1
To place in an urn.
noun
- 1
Initialism of uniform resource name.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Urn in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | urne |
| German | Urne , Kaffeespender, Teespender, Heißgetränkespender |
| Portuguese | urna |
| Spanish | urna , urna mortuoria |
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 urn come from?
From Middle English urne, from Old French urne, from Latin urna (“vessel”). Doublet of urna.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).