caramelize
/ˈkaɹ(ə)məlʌɪz/verb
caramelize is spelled C-A-R-A-M-E-L-I-Z-E: 10 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 128,787th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, caramelize means “To convert (sugar) into caramel” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in caramelize?
| Letters | 10: C-A-R-A-M-E-L-I-Z-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 18 million words; the 128,787th 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 caramelize?
Caramelize appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 128,787th 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 caramelize?
- /ˈkaɹ(ə)məlʌɪz/
- /ˈkɑɹ(ə)məlʌɪz/
Caramelize has 4 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)-Vealhurl-caramelize.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of caramelize
- caramelizes present, singular, he/she/it
- caramelizing participle, present
- caramelized participle, past
- caramelise
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does caramelize mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To convert (sugar) into caramel.
- 2
To brown (sugar, or a foodstuff containing sugar) by means of heat.
Slowly cooking the onions will caramelize them, which brings out the sweetness and gives them a brown color.
- 3
To undergo this kind of conversion or browning.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Caramelize in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense brown sugar:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | caraméliser |
| German | karamellisieren |
| Portuguese | caramelizar |
| Spanish | acaramelar, caramelizar |
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 caramelize come from?
From caramel + -ize.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).