Watson
Wat·son/ˈwɑts(ə)n/noun
Watson is spelled W-A-T-S-O-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (Wat·son). It appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, Watson means “Any character who acts as a catalyst for the detective protagonist's mental processes in a mystery story; a consciousness that is privy to facts in…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of Watson is Watsons.
How many letters and syllables are in Watson?
| Letters | 6: W-A-T-S-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: Wat·son |
| In writing | 15 times per million words; the 5,309th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is Watson?
Watson appears 15 times per million words in written English, the 5,309th 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 Watson?
- UK /ˈwɒtsn̩/
- US /ˈwɑts(ə)n/
Watson has 2 syllables, split Wat·son in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Watson.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of Watson
- Watsons plural
- Dr. Watson
- Doctor Watson
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Watson mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any character who acts as a catalyst for the detective protagonist's mental processes in a mystery story; a consciousness that is privy to facts in the case without being in on the conclusions drawn from them until the proper time. After William L. DeAndrea, discussing Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does Watson come from?
From the character in the Sherlock Holmes series of detective stories.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).