Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

headcount

/ˈhɛdˌkaʊnt/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.44 in modern English

Syllables: head-count
IPA: /ˈhɛdˌkaʊnt/

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

The act of counting how many people are present in a group.

noun

The number of people present in a group or employed by a company.

noun

More generally, a consideration of a company's appropriate staffing level based on some larger context.

noun

One slot in a workgroup, filled or to be filled by one person.

Example Sentences

"Let's take a quick headcount, to make sure we're all here."
"Population 39,693 (just north of 115,000 today), Cheltenham has been overtaken by Gloucester in terms of headcount."
"The company's headcount on January 1 was 15,203."
"The last headcount data for BTP is from December 2022, when the number of BTP officers was 3,183, up from 3,175 in April 2022."
"Due to economic difficulties, the company will be making headcount adjustments."
"I've convinced management to give us one more headcount, to take some work off the rest of us."

Etymology

From head + count.

Inflected Forms

headcounts (plural) head count (alternative)

Phrases

head tax per capita

Frequently Paired Words

capitation headage head tax census per capita

Synonyms

capitation head count

Questions

How do you pronounce headcount?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈhɛdˌkaʊnt/.
What does headcount mean?: The act of counting how many people are present in a group.
Where does headcount come from?: From head + count.

How to pronounce headcount

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “headcount”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈhɛdˌkaʊnt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “headcount”.
Repeat and practice — Say “headcount” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.