won
/wɑn/noun, verb
won is spelled W-O-N: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 158 times per million words in written English, the 638th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, won means “The currency of Korea, worth 100 jun in North Korea and 100 jeon in South Korea” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in won?
| Letters | 3: W-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 158 times per million words; the 638th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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); 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 won?
Won appears 158 times per million words in written English, the 638th 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 won?
- UK /wɒn/
- US /wɑn/
As a verb (“To live, remain”): /wɒn/.
As a verb: /wʌn/.
Won 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-won_(live,_Korea).wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-won.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-won_(past).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with won
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: wan (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with won?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as won from its last stressed vowel (/ɑn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: now, own.
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 won
- wons present, singular, he/she/it
- wonning participle, present
- wonned participle, past
- wone
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does won mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The currency of Korea, worth 100 jun in North Korea and 100 jeon in South Korea.
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of win
- 2
archaicobsoleteTo live, remain.
I long'd to leave this wand'ring pilgrimage, / And in my native soil again to won.
- 3
archaicobsoleteTo be accustomed to do something.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Won in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense currency of Korea:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | won |
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 won come from?
Borrowed from Korean 원(圓) (won), from Sinitic 圓 /圆 (“circle” > “round coin”) referring to the piece of eight. Doublet of yuan and yen.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).