Berkshire
Berk·shire/ˈbɜɹk.ʃəɹ/noun
Berkshire is spelled B-E-R-K-S-H-I-R-E: 9 letters and 2 syllables (Berk·shire). It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, Berkshire means “A breed of pig from Berkshire county” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of Berkshire is Berkshires.
How many letters and syllables are in Berkshire?
| Letters | 9: B-E-R-K-S-H-I-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: Berk·shire |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,731st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is Berkshire?
Berkshire appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st 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 Berkshire?
- UK /ˈbɑːk.ʃə/
- UK /-ˌʃɪə/
- US /ˈbɜɹk.ʃəɹ/
Berkshire has 2 syllables, split Berk·shire in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Tesco250-Berkshire.wav, En-Berkshire.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of Berkshire
- Berkshires plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Berkshire mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A breed of pig from Berkshire county.
- 2
A steam locomotive of the 2-8-4 wheel arrangement.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does Berkshire come from?
From Middle English Barrokschire, Berchesire, Barrokshyre, Berrucsire, from Old English Bearrocsċīr. The first element is possibly from Proto-Brythonic *barrọg, perhaps meaning “hilly” (compare *barros (“hill, peak, top”)) + Old English sċīr (“shire, county”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).