chikungunya
/t͡ʃɪkʊŋˈɡʊnjə/noun
chikungunya is spelled C-H-I-K-U-N-G-U-N-Y-A: 11 letters. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 75,877th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, chikungunya means “A viral fever caused by the Chikungunya virus, an alphavirus spread by mosquito bites” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in chikungunya?
| Letters | 11: C-H-I-K-U-N-G-U-N-Y-A |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 75,877th 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 chikungunya?
Chikungunya appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 75,877th 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 chikungunya?
- /t͡ʃɪkʊŋˈɡʊnjə/
- /ˌt͡ʃɪkənˈɡʌnjə/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-chikungunya.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does chikungunya mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A viral fever caused by the Chikungunya virus, an alphavirus spread by mosquito bites.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Chikungunya in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a viral fever caused by an alphavirus spread by mosquito bites:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chikungunya, chik |
| German | Chikungunyafieber |
| Portuguese | chicungunha, febre chicungunha, catolotolo |
| Spanish | chikunguña |
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 chikungunya come from?
Borrowed from Makonde chikungunya (“that which bends up”), apparently referring to the arthritic effects of the disease. See -kunja, a suffix related to bending. Compare Swahili kunja (“to bend, to fold”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).