battleship
/ˈbætəlˌʃɪp/noun
battleship is spelled B-A-T-T-L-E-S-H-I-P: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, battleship means “A large capital warship displacing thousands to tens of thousands of tons, heavily armoured and armed with large-caliber guns; now obsolescent and…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of battleship is battleships.
How many letters and syllables are in battleship?
| Letters | 10: B-A-T-T-L-E-S-H-I-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th 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 battleship?
Battleship appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th 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 battleship?
- US /ˈbætəlˌʃɪp/
Battleship 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)-Wodencafe-battleship.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of battleship
- battleships plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does battleship mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A large capital warship displacing thousands to tens of thousands of tons, heavily armoured and armed with large-caliber guns; now obsolescent and replaced by smaller vessels with guided missiles.
- 2
A starship of comparable role.
- 3
archaicA ship of the line.
- 4
A non-functional rocket stage, used for configuration and integration tests.
- 5
A guessing game played on grid paper or a gameboard inspired by it.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Battleship in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cuirassé , bataille navale |
| Portuguese | couraçado, encouraçado , batalha naval |
| Spanish | acorazado |
| German | Schiffe versenken |
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 battleship come from?
From battle + ship; shortened from line-of-battle ship, attested 1794.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).