arrearage
noun
arrearage is spelled A-R-R-E-A-R-A-G-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 69 million words in written English, the 262,293rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, arrearage means “The condition of being in arrears” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of arrearage is arrearages.
How many letters and syllables are in arrearage?
| Letters | 9: A-R-R-E-A-R-A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 69 million words; the 262,293rd 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 arrearage?
Arrearage appears about once in every 69 million words in written English, the 262,293rd 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 arrearage?
- US
Arrearage 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)-Neøn-arrearage.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of arrearage
- arrearages plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does arrearage mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The condition of being in arrears.
- 2
An item that is in arrears, as periodic payments on a debt or for taxes.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does arrearage come from?
From Middle English arrerage, from Old French arierage (“detriment, legal prejudice”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).