anthracite
/ˈænθɹəˌsaɪt/noun
anthracite is spelled A-N-T-H-R-A-C-I-T-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, anthracite means “A form of carbonized ancient plants; the hardest and cleanest-burning of all the coals” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of anthracite is anthracites.
How many letters and syllables are in anthracite?
| Letters | 10: A-N-T-H-R-A-C-I-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,230th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is anthracite?
Anthracite appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th 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 anthracite?
- /ˈænθɹəˌsaɪt/
Anthracite has 3 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)-Vininn126-anthracite.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of anthracite
- anthracites plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does anthracite mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A form of carbonized ancient plants; the hardest and cleanest-burning of all the coals.
- 2
A dark grey color.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Anthracite in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense type of coal:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | anthracite |
| German | Anthrazit |
| Portuguese | antracite, antracito |
| Spanish | antracita |
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 anthracite come from?
Via Latin from Ancient Greek ἀνθρακῖτις (anthrakîtis, “a kind of coal”), from ἄνθραξ (ánthrax, “charcoal”). By surface analysis, anthrac- + -ite.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).