cicada
/sɪˈkeɪ.də/noun
cicada is spelled C-I-C-A-D-A: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 53,573rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cicada means “Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cicada is cicadas or cicadae; Wiktionary also lists cicadæ (archaic).
How many letters and syllables are in cicada?
| Letters | 6: C-I-C-A-D-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 53,573rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is cicada?
Cicada appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 53,573rd 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 cicada?
- UK /sɪˈkeɪ.də/
- UK /sɪˈkɑː.də/
- UK [sɪˈkʰeɪ̯.də]
Cicada 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). Recordings: En-us-cicada.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with cicada?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cicada from its last stressed vowel (/eɪdə/, British pronunciation):
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 cicada
- cicadas plural
- cicadae plural
- cicad
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cicada mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of several insects in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent well-veined wings.
- 2
The periodical cicada.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cicada in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense any of several insects of the order Hemiptera:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cigale |
| German | Zikade |
| Portuguese | cigarra |
| Spanish | chicharra, chicharra), coyuyo |
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 cicada come from?
Borrowed from Latin cicāda, ultimately onomatopoeic. Doublet of cicala.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).