baptism
/ˈbæptɪzəm/noun
baptism is spelled B-A-P-T-I-S-M: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, baptism means “A Christian sacrament, by which one is received into a church and sometimes given a name, generally involving the candidate to be anointed with or…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of baptism is baptisms.
How many letters and syllables are in baptism?
| Letters | 7: B-A-P-T-I-S-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th 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 baptism?
Baptism appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th 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 baptism?
- /ˈbæptɪzəm/
Baptism 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: En-us-baptism.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of baptism
- baptisms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does baptism mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A Christian sacrament, by which one is received into a church and sometimes given a name, generally involving the candidate to be anointed with or submerged in water.
The child’s baptism was held at the old church.
- 2
A similar ceremony of initiation, purification or naming.
- 3
The moment at which an object is first assigned a proper name.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate baptism?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of baptism: bapt.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Baptism in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Christian sacrament:
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 baptism come from?
From Middle English bapteme, baptesme, from Old French batesme or bapteme, from Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin baptisma, from Ancient Greek βάπτισμα (báptisma, “dipping, baptism”), from βαπτίζω (baptízō, “I dip in liquid”). Displaced native Old English fulwiht.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).