carapace
/ˈkɛɹ.əˌpeɪs/noun
carapace is spelled C-A-R-A-P-A-C-E: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, carapace means “A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of carapace is carapaces.
How many letters and syllables are in carapace?
| Letters | 8: C-A-R-A-P-A-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is carapace?
Carapace appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd 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 carapace?
- /ˈkæ.ɹəˌpeɪs/
- US /ˈkɛɹ.əˌpeɪs/
Carapace has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-carapace.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of carapace
- carapaces plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does carapace mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal.
- 2
That which protects.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Carapace in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense hard protective covering:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | carapace |
| German | Carapax, Rückenschild, Rückenpanzer, Schale |
| Portuguese | carapaça |
| Spanish | carapacho, caparazón |
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 carapace come from?
Borrowed from French carapace (“tortoise shell”), from Spanish carapacho, of unknown origin, but likely from an extinct Ibero-Mediterranean substrate language. Compare Catalan carabassa, Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos, “beetle”), Latin scarabaeus (the source of scarab); also Spanish galápago (“kind of turtle”). Doublet of calipash.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).