bougainvillea
/ˌbu.ɡənˈvɪl.jə/noun
bougainvillea is spelled B-O-U-G-A-I-N-V-I-L-L-E-A: 13 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 83,271st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, bougainvillea means “Any of several South American flowering shrubs or lianas, of the genus Bougainvillea, having three showy, colorful bracts attached below each group…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of bougainvillea is bougainvilleas.
How many letters and syllables are in bougainvillea?
| Letters | 13: B-O-U-G-A-I-N-V-I-L-L-E-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 83,271st 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 bougainvillea?
Bougainvillea appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 83,271st 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 bougainvillea?
- UK /ˌbuː.ɡənˈvɪl.ɪ.ə/
- US /ˌbu.ɡənˈvɪl.jə/
- US /ˌboʊ.ɡənˈvɪl.jə/
Bougainvillea has 5 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-bougainvillea.ogg, En-au-bougainvillea.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bougainvillea
- bougainvilleas plural
- bougainvillaea
- bougainvillia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bougainvillea mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of several South American flowering shrubs or lianas, of the genus Bougainvillea, having three showy, colorful bracts attached below each group of three inconspicuous flowers.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bougainvillea in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense flower:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bougainvillée, bougainvillier |
| German | Bougainvillea |
| Portuguese | bougainvillea, buganvília |
| Spanish | buganvilia, buganvilla, comomosí, papelillo, Santa Rita, trinitaria |
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 bougainvillea come from?
From taxonomic name Bougainvillea, from French Bougainville + -a. Named after French admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville (1729–1811).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).