n. 1
News; tidings.
Have you had any word from John yet?
n. 2
The smallest unit of language that has a particular meaning and can be expressed by itself; the smallest discrete, meaningful unit of language. (contrast morpheme.)
v. 1
To say or write (something) using particular words; to phrase (something).
I’m not sure how to word this letter to the council.
v. 2
To flatter with words, to cajole.

Related words

Word family: wordage wordaholic word-blind wordbook word-bound wordbuilding wordcraft word-for-word
Phrases: swear word curse word last word dirty word bad word portmanteau word nonce word ten-dollar word
Is a kind of: linguistic unit term sign symbol lexical item

Forms

Plural: words → statements, intelligences, expressions, accounts…
Past participle: worded
e.g. worded → phrased, expressed, stated, articulated…

Choose the right word

or Word?

Word is generic; it denotes an utterance which represents or expresses our thoughts and feelings. Term originally denoted one of the two essential members of a proposition in logic, and hence signifies a word of specific meaning, and applicable to a definite class of objects.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Example sentences

statement I'm going to ascertain the truth of his statement.
expression I inferred from her expression that she was angry.
affirmation I'll take this as an affirmation.
tongue You can use a tongue scraper to clean your tongue.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
word		rising
statement		falling
expression		rising
affirmation		rising
tongue		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: jaw¹
4 letters: news¹, book¹, talk¹, term¹, chat¹, moot¹
5 letters: state¹, order², based¹, faith¹, bible², rumor²
6 letters: report², advice², tongue¹, phrase¹, pledge¹, gossip², parole², rumour²
7 letters: account², message², promise², command², express², dispute²
8 letters: password², inveigle, blandish, averment
9 letters: statement², scripture², assurance³, discourse², assertion³, formulate³, watchword²
10 letters: discussion³, expression³, commitment³, engagement³, articulate⁴
11 letters: information⁴, declaration⁴, affirmation⁴, altercation⁴, countersign
12 letters: intelligence⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (order² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: mot
Italiano: parola
Español: palabra
Deutsch: Wort
Català: paraula