crayfish
/ˈkɹeɪˌfɪʃ/noun, verb
crayfish is spelled C-R-A-Y-F-I-S-H: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, crayfish means “Any of numerous freshwater decapod crustaceans in superfamily Astacoidea or Parastacoidea, resembling the related lobster but usually much smaller” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of crayfish is crayfishes.
How many letters and syllables are in crayfish?
| Letters | 8: C-R-A-Y-F-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,912th 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 crayfish?
Crayfish appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th 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 crayfish?
- /ˈkɹeɪˌfɪʃ/
Crayfish has 2 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-crayfish.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_crayfish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of crayfish
- crayfishes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- crawfish
- crevis
- crevyssh
- crayfishing participle, present
- crayfished participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crayfish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of numerous freshwater decapod crustaceans in superfamily Astacoidea or Parastacoidea, resembling the related lobster but usually much smaller.
- 2
A freshwater crustacean (family Cambaridae), sometimes used as an inexpensive seafood or as fish bait.
- 3
AustraliaA rock lobster (family Palinuridae).
- 4
AustraliaA freshwater crayfish (family Parastacidae), such as the gilgie, marron, or yabby.
- 5
The species Thenus orientalis of the slipper lobster family (Scyllaridae).
verb
- 1
To catch crayfish.
- 2
Alternative spelling of crawfish (to backpedal, desert, or withdraw).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crayfish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense freshwater crustacean resembling lobster:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | écrevisse, langoustine (saltwater) |
| German | Flusskrebs |
| Portuguese | lagostim |
| Spanish | cangrejo de río, cangrejo, cigala, pigua fluvial |
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 crayfish come from?
Alteration (by folk etymological influence of fish) of Middle English crevis (whence modern dialectal crevis), from Old French crevice ("crayfish"; > Modern French: écrevisse), from Frankish *krebitja (“crayfish”), diminutive of Frankish *krebit (“crab”), from Proto-Germanic *krabitaz (“crab, cancer”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ-, *grebʰ- (“to scratch, crawl”), or from a substrate word folk-etymologically influenced by this root.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).