water
wa·ter/ˈwɔ.tɚ/noun, verb
water is spelled W-A-T-E-R, 2 syllables: wa·ter. The wrong spelling people search most is oiter: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10,000 of all searches for the word. Water is a noun meaning “An inorganic compound (of molecular formula H₂O) found at room temperature and pressure as a clear liquid; it…”. The plural of water is waters.
How many letters and syllables are in water?
| Letters | 5: W-A-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: wa·ter |
| In writing | 331 times per million words; the 282nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, oiter, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); 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).
How do you spell water?
Water is spelled W-A-T-E-R. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 9,254 of the searches for water in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is water?
Water appears 331 times per million words in written English, the 282nd 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 water?
- /ˈwɔ.tɚ/
- [ˈwɔ.ɾɚ]
- /ˈwɑ.tɚ/
Water has 2 syllables, split wa·ter in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Nail123Real-water.wav, En-us-water.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Byrhtnoð-water.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of water
- waters plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- wahter
- wahtuh
- watering participle, present
- watered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does water mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An inorganic compound (of molecular formula H₂O) found at room temperature and pressure as a clear liquid; it is present naturally as rain, and found in rivers, lakes and seas; its solid form is ice and its gaseous form is steam.
By the action of electricity, the water was resolved into its two parts, oxygen and hydrogen.
- 2
The liquid form of this substance: liquid H₂O.
May I have a glass of water?
- 3
A serving of liquid water.
- 4
The aforementioned liquid, considered one of the Classical elements or basic elements of alchemy.
He showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God.
- 5
Water in a body; an area of open water.
The president expressed hope that creating rain over waters between the countries would help reduce pollution.
- 6
archaicA body of water, almost always a river, sometimes a lake or reservoir, especially in the names given to such bodies.
- 7
Mineral water.
Perrier is the most popular water in this restaurant.
- 8
Spa water; hot springs.
Many people visit Bath to take the waters.
verb
- 1
To wet or supply with water; to moisten; to overflow with water; to irrigate.
- 2
To pour water into the soil surrounding (plants).
- 3
To provide (animals) with water for drinking.
I need to water the cattle.
- 4
To provide water to (someone).
We fed and watered the refugees.
- 5
colloquialTo urinate onto.
Nature called, so I stepped into the woods and watered a tree.
- 6
To fill with or secrete water or similar liquid.
Chopping onions makes my eyes water.
- 7
To get or take in water.
The ship put into port to water.
- 8
To gather water.
We stopped at the same well we watered at on the last journey.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Water in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | eau , eaux , bouteille d'eau, verre d'eau , arroser , abreuver |
| German | Wasser, Wossa, wassa , gießen, bewässern , tränken |
| Portuguese | água , águas , regar, aguar , dar água a , mijar |
| Spanish | agua, linfa, wata, aguacha , aguas , regar |
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 water come from?
From Middle English water, from Old English wæter (“water”), from Proto-West Germanic *watar, from Proto-Germanic *watōr (“water”), from Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥ (“water”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).