wat
/wat/noun, pronoun, adverb, determiner
wat is spelled W-A-T: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,228th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Wat, the name). As a noun, wat means “A Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia, especially those in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wat is wats.
How many letters and syllables are in wat?
| Letters | 3: W-A-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.8 times per million words; the 16,228th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 wat?
Wat appears 2.8 times per million words in written English, the 16,228th most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Wat, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce wat?
- UK /wat/
- UK /wɒt/
As a pronoun (“Alternative spelling of what”): /wæ(ː)t/.
Wat 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-wat.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with wat
Also written: what.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with wat?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as wat from its last stressed vowel (/æt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: taw.
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 wat
- wats plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wat mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia, especially those in Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia.
There are two wats near this village.
- 2
A kind of stew or curry eaten in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
pronoun
- 1
informalAlternative spelling of what.
adverb
- 1
informalAlternative spelling of what.
determiner
- 1
informalAlternative spelling of what.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wat in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Buddhist temple:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | wat |
| Spanish | templo budista |
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 wat come from?
Borrowed from Thai วัด (wát).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).