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carrion

car·ri·on/ˈkɛɹ.i.ən/noun, adjective

carrion is spelled C-A-R-R-I-O-N: 7 letters and 3 syllables (car·ri·on). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, carrion means “Rotting flesh of a dead animal or person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of carrion is carrions.

How many letters and syllables are in carrion?

Letters7: C-A-R-R-I-O-N
Syllables3: car·ri·on
In writingabout once in every 2 million words; the 41,154th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is carrion?

Carrion appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th 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 carrion?

  • UK /ˈkæɹ.ɪ.ən/
  • US /ˈkɛɹ.i.ən/
  • US /ˈkæɹ.ən/

Carrion has 3 syllables, split car·ri·on in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: Carrion.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Jjamesryan-carrion.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with carrion?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as carrion from its last stressed vowel (/ɛɹiən/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of carrion

  • carrions plural
  • more carrion comparative
  • most carrion superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does carrion mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Rotting flesh of a dead animal or person.

    Vultures feed on carrion.

  2. 2

    Corrupt or horrid matter.

  3. 3

    obsoleteFilth, garbage.

  4. 4

    derogatoryobsoleteThe flesh of a living human body; also (Christianity), sinful human nature.

  5. 5

    obsoleteA dead body; a carcass, a corpse.

  6. 6

    obsoleteAn animal which is in poor condition or worthless; also, an animal which is a pest or vermin.

  7. 7

    derogatoryobsoleteA contemptible or worthless person.

adjective

  1. 1

    derogatoryPertaining to, or made up of, rotting flesh.

  2. 2

    Disgusting, horrid, rotten.

  3. 3

    derogatoryOf the living human body, the soul, etc.: fleshly, mortal, sinful.

  4. 4

    obsoleteVery thin; emaciated, skeletonlike.

  5. 5

    obsoleteOf or pertaining to death.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Carrion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcharogne (rotting flesh of a dead animal or person)
GermanAas, Kadaver (rotting flesh of a dead animal or person), Verdorbenheit, Sauerei (corrupt or horrid matter), Aas- (pertaining to, or made up of, rotting flesh)
Portuguesecarniça (rotting flesh of a dead animal or person)
Spanishcarroña (rotting flesh of a dead animal or person), carroñero (pertaining to, or made up of, rotting flesh)

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 carrion come from?

The noun is derived from Middle English caroyne (“corpse, carrion, something disgusting”), borrowed from Anglo-Norman careine, caroigne, charogne, and Old French charoigne, Northern Old French caˈronië, caroine, caroigne (modern French charogne), probably from Vulgar Latin *carōnia, from Latin caro (“flesh”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”)) + -ia (suffix forming nouns). Doublet of crone.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after carrion