alleluia
interjection, noun, verb
alleluia is spelled A-L-L-E-L-U-I-A: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 55,433rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “alleluia vs hallelujah” about 1,900 times a month (Google, United States). As an interjection, alleluia means “A liturgical or variant form of hallelujah” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in alleluia?
| Letters | 8: A-L-L-E-L-U-I-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 55,433rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is alleluia?
Alleluia appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 55,433rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce alleluia?
- US
Alleluia has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-alleluia.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with alleluia
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: hallelujah.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of alleluia
- alleluias plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- alleluiaing participle, present
- alleluiaed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does alleluia mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
A liturgical or variant form of hallelujah.
noun
- 1
A liturgical form of hallelujah.
- 2
A choral composition incorporating alleluia in its text.
- 3
The plant wood sorrel.
verb
- 1
Alternative spelling of hallelujah.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Alleluia in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense liturgical form of hallelujah:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does alleluia come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin allēlūia, borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀλληλούϊα (allēloúïa), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew הַלְּלוּיָהּ (halləlūyɔh, “praise the Lord”), from הַלְּלוּ (halləlū, “praise!”) + יָהּ (yɔh, “Lord, Jah”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).