balsa
/ˈbɑlsə/noun
balsa is spelled B-A-L-S-A: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, balsa means “A large tree, Ochroma pyramidale, native to tropical America, with wood that is very light in weight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of balsa is balsas.
How many letters and syllables are in balsa?
| Letters | 5: B-A-L-S-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,192nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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 balsa?
Balsa appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd 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 balsa?
- UK /ˈbɔːl.sə/
- UK /ˈbæl.sə/
- US /ˈbɑlsə/
Balsa has 2 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)-NaomiAmethyst-balsa.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with balsa?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as balsa from its last stressed vowel (/ɑlsə/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: basal, sabal, balas.
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 balsa
- balsas plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does balsa mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A large tree, Ochroma pyramidale, native to tropical America, with wood that is very light in weight.
- 2
The wood of this tree.
- 3
A raft or float, used principally on the Pacific coast of South America.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Balsa in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 balsa come from?
Borrowed from Spanish balsa, from Paleo-Hispanic, probably Basque [Term?] or Iberian [Term?]. Not related to balsam.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).