clarinet
/ˌklæɹɪˈnɛt/noun
clarinet is spelled C-L-A-R-I-N-E-T: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, clarinet means “A woodwind musical instrument that has a distinctive liquid tone whose characteristics vary among its three registers: chalumeau (low), clarion…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of clarinet is clarinets.
How many letters and syllables are in clarinet?
| Letters | 8: C-L-A-R-I-N-E-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,745th 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 clarinet?
Clarinet appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th 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 clarinet?
- /ˌklæɹɪˈnɛt/
- /ˌklɛɹɪˈnɛt/
Clarinet 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-clarinet.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of clarinet
- clarinets plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does clarinet mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A woodwind musical instrument that has a distinctive liquid tone whose characteristics vary among its three registers: chalumeau (low), clarion (medium), and altissimo (high).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Clarinet in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense woodwind musical instrument:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | clarinette |
| German | Klarinette |
| Portuguese | clarinete |
| Spanish | clarinete |
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 clarinet come from?
Borrowed from Italian clarinetto, diminutive of clarino (“trumpet”) (as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet), from Latin clarus. Alternatively, the word may come from French clarinette, diminutive form of clarine (“bell”), from clarin, from clair (“clear”), from Latin clarus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).