anesthesia
/ˌæn.əsˈθi.ʒə/noun
anesthesia is spelled A-N-E-S-T-H-E-S-I-A: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, anesthesia means “An artificial method of preventing sensation, used to eliminate pain without causing loss of vital functions, by the administration of one or more…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of anesthesia is anesthesias.
How many letters and syllables are in anesthesia?
| Letters | 10: A-N-E-S-T-H-E-S-I-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,342nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is anesthesia?
Anesthesia appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd 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 anesthesia?
- UK /ˌæn.əsˈθiːz.i.ə/
- US /ˌæn.əsˈθi.ʒə/
- US /ˌæn.əsˈti.ʒə/
Anesthesia 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)-Vealhurl-anesthesia.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with anesthesia
Also written: anaesthesia.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with anesthesia?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as anesthesia from its last stressed vowel (/iʒə/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of anesthesia
- anesthesias plural
- anaesthesia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does anesthesia mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
CanadaUSAn artificial method of preventing sensation, used to eliminate pain without causing loss of vital functions, by the administration of one or more agents which block pain impulses before transmitted to the brain.
- 2
USThe loss or prevention of sensation, as caused by anesthesia (in the above sense), or by a lesion in the nervous system, or by another physical abnormality.
- 3
proscribedA medication that provides the service of temporarily blocking sensation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Anesthesia in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense loss of bodily sensation:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | anesthésie, anæsthésie |
| German | Anästhesie, Narkose, Betäubung |
| Portuguese | anestesia |
| Spanish | anestesia |
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 anesthesia come from?
Sense of “insensibility” attested since 1679, from New Latin anaesthēsia, from Ancient Greek ἀναισθησία (anaisthēsía, “without sensation”), from ἀν- (an-, “not”) and αἴσθησις (aísthēsis, “sensation”). By surface analysis, an- + -esthesia. Sense of “state induced by an agent” attested since 1846.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).