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PlainSpell

win

/ˈwɪn/verb, noun

win is spelled W-I-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 245 times per million words in written English, the 402nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, win means “To reach some destination or object, despite difficulty or toil (now usually intransitive, with preposition or locative adverb)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in win?

Letters3: W-I-N
Syllables1
In writing245 times per million words; the 402nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Sounds like

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 win?

Win appears 245 times per million words in written English, the 402nd 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 win?

  • /ˈwɪn/
  • [ˈwɪn]

Win has one syllable.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-win.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Back_ache-win.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with win

Sounds like: winne, wynn (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: wynn.

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of win

  • wins present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • winning participle, present
  • won past, participle, singular, he/she/it, plural

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

What does win mean?

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

verb

  1. 1

    obsoleteTo conquer, defeat.

  2. 2

    To reach some destination or object, despite difficulty or toil (now usually intransitive, with preposition or locative adverb).

    I well may gang out, love, but I'll never win home.

  3. 3

    To triumph or achieve victory in (a game, a war, etc.).

  4. 4

    To gain (a prize) by succeeding in competition or contest.

    to win the jackpot in a lottery;  to win a bottle of wine in a raffle

  5. 5

    To obtain (someone) by wooing; to make an ally or friend of (frequently with over).

  6. 6

    To achieve victory.

    Who would win in a fight between an octopus and a dolphin?

  7. 7

    To have power, coercion or control.

    Ever since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Bostonians now run as "One Boston." The terrorists did not win.

  8. 8

    To obtain (something desired).

    The company hopes to win an order from the government worth over 5 million dollars.

  9. 9

    ScotlandTo dry by exposure to the wind.

noun

  1. 1

    An individual victory.

    Our first win of the season put us in high spirits.

  2. 2

    slangA feat carried out successfully; a victorious achievement.

  3. 3

    obsoleteGain; profit; income.

  4. 4

    obsoleteWealth; goods owned.

  5. 5

    ScotlandPleasure; joy; delight.

  6. 6

    Alternative form of wynn.

noun

as Win
  1. 1

    colloquialA Winchester firearm.

phrase

as WIN
  1. 1

    Initialism of whip inflation now: a 1974 US political slogan.

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

How do you abbreviate win?

Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of win: W, w.

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

Win in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgagner, vaincre (transitive: achieve victory in), conquérir (obtain (someone) by wooing), gain, victoire (individual victory)
Germangewinnen (transitive: achieve victory in), erobern (obtain (someone) by wooing), Erfolg, Sieg, Einzelsieg (individual victory), siegen (intransitive: achieve by winning)
Portuguesevencer, ganhar (transitive: achieve victory in), conquistar (obtain (someone) by wooing), vitória (individual victory), proveito, lucro (gain, profit)
Spanishganar, vencer, adjudicarse (transitive: achieve victory in), granjear, conciliar (to obtain (something desired))

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 win come from?

From Middle English winnen, from Old English winnan (“to labour, swink, toil,”) (compare Old English ġewinnan (“conquer, obtain, gain; endure, bear, suffer; be ill”)), from Proto-West Germanic *winnan, from Proto-Germanic *winnaną (“to swink, labour, win, gain, fight”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to strive, wish, desire, love”).

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

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