Google

How to spell google

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce google

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does google mean?

1. verbTo search for information about someone or something using an internet search engine.

Google in a sentence

• You can google the opening hours before you drive over there.

• She likes to google unfamiliar terms while she is reading a contract.

Where does google come from?

Language of origin: Other

This word began life as a brand name rather than an old root. The search company Google took its name from 'googol', a term coined in the 1930s for the enormous number written as 1 followed by a hundred zeros; that playful word was reportedly invented by the young nephew of the American mathematician Edward Kasner. The company's founders are said to have intended 'googol' as a nod to the vast quantity of information they hoped to organise, but the spelling was altered to 'google' along the way. From the brand name an ordinary verb quickly grew, meaning to look something up using an internet search engine, and it spread so widely that dictionaries added the lowercase form in the early 2000s. The spelling trap lives in that doubled vowel and single ending: it is googl- with two o's, not 'googel' or 'gogle', and the soft 'gle' close echoes the original number 'googol'.

How the word is built

• google (verb formed from the brand name Google, itself a play on 'googol', the number 1 followed by a hundred zeros)