welch
/wɛlt͡ʃ/noun, verb
welch is spelled W-E-L-C-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, welch means “A person who defaults on an obligation, especially a small one” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of welch is welches.
How many letters and syllables are in welch?
| Letters | 5: W-E-L-C-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is welch?
Welch appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th 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 welch?
- /wɛlt͡ʃ/
Welch 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-welch.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of welch
- welches plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- welching participle, present
- welched participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does welch mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A person who defaults on an obligation, especially a small one.
She's a welch. That watering-can isn't hers: I lent it to her three years ago.
verb
- 1
To fail to repay a small debt.
- 2
To fail to fulfill an obligation.
I welched. I'm a welcher. Didn't I tell you?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Welch in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense fail to fulfill an obligation:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | prellen, bescheißen, linken |
| Portuguese | vacilar |
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 welch come from?
Alternative form of welsh, from Welsh.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).