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Just How Many Words Are in the English Language?

English speakers and English learners can agree: The English language has a lot of words. But exactly how many words are in the English language, and how many does the average person know?

Follow a vocabulary guide to how many words there are in the English language, why that question is more complicated than it seems, and which languages actually have even more words than English.

The number of words in the English language

So, how many words are in the English language? The answer depends on where you look.

If you’re looking at words in the dictionary, you can turn to Merriam-Webster, which includes around 470,000 English words. Another option is the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which includes over 600,000 words. That’s a big difference between dictionaries that cover words in the same language! 

But some English words don’t even appear in the dictionary, so the answer might be elsewhere. The Global Language Monitor estimated that there were around 900,000 words in 2006 and announced that the English language reached one million words in 2009 with the invention and widespread usage of the word Web 2.0. 

While it’s impossible to know the exact number of words in the English language, we can assume there are between 470,000 and one million English words in use today, based on these counts.

Why can’t we count the number of English words?

There are several reasons why we can’t count the number of English words. First, many linguists estimate that 14.7 new English words are created every day, adding up to around 5,365 new words in the language every year. Dictionaries regularly add hundreds of new words to their lists every year as well.

With those additions come archaic English words that we don’t regularly use anymore. Obsolete words like “tremblable” (which means “causing dread or horror”) or “awhape” (meaning “to amaze”) aren’t likely to appear in 21st-century dictionaries or conversations. But do we still include these words in an official count of words in English? And what about phrases like “hot dog” or “time of day”? Do those count as one word or several?

Another complicating factor: There are many English dialects spoken around the world, including American English, British English, and Hindi English (known as Hinglish). With these dialects come thousands of distinct words and slang expressions that won’t appear in other parts of the world—or in an official count of the total number of English words. 

How many words do English speakers know?

If one million words seems like a lot, you’re right. Most Americans who speak English, including highly educated English speakers, have a vocabulary of around 42,000 words. That’s just over 4% of the total number of English words (over 8% if you go with the 470,000 words from Merriam-Webster).

If that number seems humbling, try this one: Five-year-olds know an average of 10,000 words. That’s 25% of the total number of words you’ll know throughout your life!

How many five-letter words are in the English language?

If we can’t narrow down how many words there are in the English language, can we figure out how many five-letter words there are? The answer: Again, it depends.

Fans of word games like Wordle and Scrabble know that the interpretation of valid five-letter words varies. There are 2,315 possible five-letter words in Wordle, while 12,915 five-letter words are valid in Scrabble. (One reason for the discrepancy is that Scrabble accepts plural four-letter words, while Wordle doesn’t.)

Like the rest of the words in English, five-letter words change every day. Just recently, the OED added five-letter words calen (a Welsh word meaning New Year’s Day) and typee (a Guyanese English word meaning “lovesickness.”) These words may appear on lists of five-letter words in the English language before we know it!

Which language has the most words?

Depending on how you count them, English might be the language with the most words. It has roots in many branches of the Indo-European language family, including Celtic, Germanic, Italic, and Greek languages. English has a wide history of adopting words (known as “loanwords”) from neighboring regions around the world.

And speaking of English around the world, English is an official language in over 60 countries. That means dozens of dialects (and dialects within those dialects!) add new words to the English language all the time.

Count successes, not words with Rosetta Stone

Because English is a living, growing language, it may never have an official number of words to count. But that’s what makes English and other modern languages fascinating to learn! 

If you’re ready to add new words to your vocabulary on a language learning journey, learn more about how Rosetta Stone works today. You’ll lose count of the challenges you overcome along the way!

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