bulgur

/ˈbʌlɡə(ɹ)/

//ˈbʌlɡə(ɹ)// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bulgur" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bulgur” is uncommon English (frequency #94,635 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#94,635
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Wheat grains that have been steamed, dried, and crushed; a staple of Middle Eastern cooking.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bulgur · bulgur · English

bulgur · rank #94,635 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #94,635
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH brutalize

Nearest frequency peer: brutalize (-3 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “bulgur”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “bulgur” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bulgur
PropertyValue
Headwordbulgur
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbʌlɡə(ɹ)/
Letters6
Frequency rank#94,635
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bulgur” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).bulgurfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “brutalize” (#94,632), “caballo” (#94,639), “bronchi” (#94,630). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bulgur” is #94,635. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bulgur is uncommon English at frequency #94,635 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbʌlɡə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Wheat grains that have been steamed, dried, and crushed; a staple of Middle Eastern cooking.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for bulgur in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ottoman Turkish بلغور (bulğur) (modern Turkish bulgur), by metathesis from older بورغول (burğul), from Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul), from Persian برغول (barġul), پرغول (parġul). The correct English form is bulgur, spelled B-U-L-G-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Wheat grains that have been steamed, dried, and crushed; a staple of Middle Eastern cooking.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how bulgur appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Before man baked bread, he made bulgur by parboiling wheat and spreading it out in the sun to dry. […] Every household in the Near East prepared a year's store of bulgur in the fall after the wheat harvest.

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بلغور (bulğur) (modern Turkish bulgur), by metathesis from older بورغول (burğul), from Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul), from Persian برغول (barġul), پرغول (parġul).

This word in other languages

boulgour(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bulgur"?
"bulgur" is spelled B-U-L-G-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbʌlɡə(ɹ)/.
What does "bulgur" mean?
As a noun, "bulgur" means: Wheat grains that have been steamed, dried, and crushed; a staple of Middle Eastern cooking.
How do you pronounce "bulgur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bulgur" is /ˈbʌlɡə(ɹ)/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bulgur"?
From Ottoman Turkish بلغور (bulğur) (modern Turkish bulgur), by metathesis from older بورغول (burğul), from Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul), from Persian برغول (barġul), پرغول (parġul). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bulgur", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

canner#94,652Bostic#94,617carder#94,654blazon#94,606

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list