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PlainSpell

versus

/ˈvɝsəs/preposition, verb

versus is spelled V-E-R-S-U-S: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “verse vs versus” about 1,000 times a month (Google, United States). As a preposition, versus means “Against; in opposition to” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in versus?

Letters6: V-E-R-S-U-S
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing21 times per million words; the 4,153rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

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 versus?

Versus appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd 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 versus?

  • UK /ˈvɜːsəs/
  • UK /ˈvɜːsɪz/
  • US /ˈvɝsəs/

As a verb (“To face in competition”): /ˈvɝs/.

Versus 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-I_learned_some_phrases-versus.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-versus.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with versus

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

verse vs versus1,000 G

Also written: v.

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

What rhymes with versus?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as versus from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹsəs/):

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 versus

  • versuses present, singular, he/she/it
  • versusing participle, present
  • versused participle, past

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

What does versus mean?

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

preposition

  1. 1

    Against; in opposition to.

    It is the Packers versus the Steelers in the Super Bowl.

  2. 2

    Compared with, as opposed to.

  3. 3

    Bringing a legal action against, as used in the title of a court case in which the first party indicates the plaintiff (or appellant or the like), and the second indicates the defendant (or respondent or the like).

    Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans.

  4. 4

    Interacting with, especially to record reactions

  5. 5

    Mashed up with.

    Kiss Me Thru The Phone vs. Last Friday Night

  6. 6

    Indicating one group or artist remixing another.

    The Auteurs vs. μ-Ziq

verb

  1. 1

    To face in competition

  2. 2

    To fight

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

How do you abbreviate versus?

Wiktionary records 3 abbreviations of versus: v, v., vs..

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

Versus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcontre, face à, versus (in opposition to)
Germangegen, im Gegensatz zu, contra (in opposition to), gegenüber, vergleiche, vgl. (compared with)
Portuguesecontra, vérsus (in opposition to)
Spanishcontra, en vez de (in opposition to)

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 versus come from?

From Middle English versus, borrowed from Latin versus (“facing”), past participle of vertere (“to turn, change, overthrow, destroy”).

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

What to look up after versus