WC(1) — UNIX Programmer’s Manual
NAME
wc − word count
SYNOPSIS
wc [ −lwc ] [ name ... ]
DESCRIPTION
Wc counts lines, words and characters in the named files, or in the standard input if no name appears. A word is a maximal string of characters delimited by spaces, tabs or newlines.
If an argument beginning with one of “lwc” is present, the specified counts (lines, words, or characters) are selected by the letters l, w, or c. The default is −lwc.
BUGS
4th Berkeley Distribution — Revision 1.2 of 19/10/88