calamine
noun, verb
calamine is spelled C-A-L-A-M-I-N-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 99,289th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, calamine means “Synonym of smithsonite, a pink form of zinc oxide (mainly zinc carbonate ZnCO₃) formed as a byproduct of zinc sublimation, now used in skin lotions” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of calamine is calamines.
How many letters and syllables are in calamine?
| Letters | 8: C-A-L-A-M-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 11 million words; the 99,289th 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 calamine?
Calamine appears about once in every 11 million words in written English, the 99,289th 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 calamine?
Calamine 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).
Forms of calamine
- calamines plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- calamining participle, present
- calamined participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does calamine mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Synonym of smithsonite, a pink form of zinc oxide (mainly zinc carbonate ZnCO₃) formed as a byproduct of zinc sublimation, now used in skin lotions.
- 2
Synonym of hemimorphite, an orthorhombic-pyramidal mineral containing zinc.
verb
- 1
To coat or treat with calamine.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Calamine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pink form of zinc oxide:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | calamine |
| German | mit Eisenoxid eingefärbtes Zinkoxidpulver, Calamin, Calamine, carbonatischer Galmei |
| Spanish | calamina, caramilla |
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 calamine come from?
From French calamine, from Medieval Latin calamīna, from Latin cadmīa, ultimately from Ancient Greek Κᾰδμείᾱ (Kădmeíā), from Κάδμος (Kádmos, “Cadmus”) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming related substances”). Doublet of cadmia, calaminaris, and lapis calaminaris.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).