wind
/ˈwɪnd/noun, verb
wind is spelled W-I-N-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 69 times per million words in written English, the 1,528th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “wend vs wind” about 50 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, wind means “Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wind is winds.
How many letters and syllables are in wind?
| Letters | 4: W-I-N-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 69 times per million words; the 1,528th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is wind?
Wind appears 69 times per million words in written English, the 1,528th 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 wind?
- US /ˈwɪnd/
- /ˈwaɪ̯nd/
As a verb (“To turn coils (of a cord or something similar) around…”): /waɪnd/, /wɑjnd/.
Wind has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-wind.ogg, En-us-wind-air.ogg, En-us-wind-turn.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with wind
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with wind?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as wind from its last stressed vowel (/ɪnd/):
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 wind
- winds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- winding participle, present
- winded participle, past
- wound participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wind mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Real or perceived movement of atmospheric air usually caused by convection or differences in air pressure.
The wind blew through her hair as she stood on the deck of the ship.
- 2
Air artificially put in motion by any force or action.
the wind of a cannon ball
- 3
The ability to breathe easily.
After the second lap he was already out of wind.
- 4
News of an event, especially by hearsay or gossip.
to catch wind of something
- 5
A tendency or trend.
the wind of change
- 6
One of the four elements of the ancient Greeks and Romans; air.
- 7
One of the five basic elements in Indian and Japanese models of the Classical elements.
- 8
colloquialFlatus.
to pass wind
- 9
The act of winding or turning; a turn; a bend; a twist.
verb
- 1
To blow air through a wind instrument or horn to make a sound.
- 2
To cause (someone) to become breathless, as by a blow to the abdomen, or by physical exertion, running, etc.
The boxer was winded during round two.
- 3
UKTo cause a baby to bring up wind by patting its back after being fed.
- 4
UKTo turn a boat or ship around, so that the wind strikes it on the opposite side.
- 5
To expose to the wind; to winnow; to ventilate.
- 6
To perceive or follow by scent.
The hounds winded the game.
- 7
To rest (a horse, etc.) in order to allow the breath to be recovered; to breathe.
- 8
To turn a windmill so that its sails face into the wind.
- 9
To turn coils (of a cord or something similar) around something.
to wind thread on a spool or into a ball
- 10
To tighten the spring of a clockwork mechanism.
Please wind that old-fashioned alarm clock.
- 11
To entwist; to enfold; to encircle.
- 12
To travel or follow a path with numerous curves.
Vines wind round a pole. The river winds through the plain.
- 13
To have complete control over; to turn and bend at one's pleasure; to vary or alter at will; to regulate; to govern.
Were our legislature vested in the person of our prince, he might doubtless wind and turn our constitution at his pleasure.
- 14
To introduce by insinuation; to insinuate.
- 15
To cover or surround with something coiled about.
to wind a rope with twine
- 16
To cause to move by exerting a winding force; to haul or hoist as by a winch.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wind in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | vent , souffle , pet , bois , souffler , essouffler |
| German | Wind , blasen , aufwickeln , aufziehen , sich winden, sich schlängeln |
| Portuguese | vento , flatulência , soprar , enrolar , dar corda a , serpentear |
| Spanish | viento, ventisca, ventarrón, cold, biruji, biruje |
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 wind come from?
From Middle English wynd, wind, from Old English wind (“wind”), from Proto-West Germanic *wind, from Proto-Germanic *windaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wéh₁n̥tos (“wind”), from earlier *h₂wéh₁n̥ts (“wind”), derived from the present participle of *h₂weh₁- (“to blow”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).