bookshelf
/ˈbʊkˌʃɛlf/noun
bookshelf is spelled B-O-O-K-S-H-E-L-F: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,974th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bookshelf means “A shelf or shelves for storing books for easy visual reference” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bookshelf is bookshelves.
How many letters and syllables are in bookshelf?
| Letters | 9: B-O-O-K-S-H-E-L-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,974th 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 bookshelf?
Bookshelf appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,974th 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 bookshelf?
- /ˈbʊkˌʃɛlf/
Bookshelf 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)-Vininn126-bookshelf.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bookshelf
- bookshelves plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bookshelf mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A shelf or shelves for storing books for easy visual reference.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bookshelf in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense shelf for storing books:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bibliothèque, étagère |
| German | Regal, Bücherregal |
| Portuguese | estante |
| Spanish | estantería, librero, estante, librería |
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 bookshelf come from?
From book + shelf.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).