apnea
ap·ne·a/ˈæp.ni.ə/noun
apnea is spelled A-P-N-E-A: 5 letters and 3 syllables (ap·ne·a). It appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, apnea means “The cessation of breathing, most often in reference to transient instances thereof during sleep” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of apnea is apneas.
How many letters and syllables are in apnea?
| Letters | 5: A-P-N-E-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ap·ne·a |
| In writing | 1.0 times per million words; the 28,918th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 apnea?
Apnea appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,918th 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 apnea?
- /ˈæp.ni.ə/
Apnea has 3 syllables, split ap·ne·a in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-apnea.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-apnoea.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with apnea?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as apnea.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: paean.
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 apnea
- apneas plural
- apnoea
- apnœa
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does apnea mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The cessation of breathing, most often in reference to transient instances thereof during sleep.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Apnea in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense cessation of breathing:
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 apnea come from?
From a- + -pnea, from the New Latin apnoea, from the Ancient Greek ἄπνοια (ápnoia), formed from ἀ- (a-, “absence of”) + πνοή (pnoḗ, “breathing”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).