cymbal
/ˈsɪmbəl/noun
cymbal is spelled C-Y-M-B-A-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cymbal means “A concave plate of metal, usually brass or bronze, that produces a sharp, ringing sound when struck: played either in pairs, by striking them…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cymbal is cymbals.
How many letters and syllables are in cymbal?
| Letters | 6: C-Y-M-B-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,633rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is cymbal?
Cymbal appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd 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 cymbal?
- /ˈsɪmbəl/
- [ˈsɪmbɫ̩]
Cymbal 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-cymbal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with cymbal
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: symbol (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of cymbal
- cymbals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cymbal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A concave plate of metal, usually brass or bronze, that produces a sharp, ringing sound when struck: played either in pairs, by striking them together, or singly by striking with a drumstick or the like.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cymbal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense concave plate of brass or bronze that produces a sharp, ringing sound when struc:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cymbale |
| German | Becken, Zimbel |
| Portuguese | prato |
| Spanish | plato, platos, platillo, platillos, címbalo, címbalos |
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 cymbal come from?
From Middle English cymbal, from Old English cimbal, cimbala and Old French cimbale, both from Latin cymbalum (“cymbal”), from Ancient Greek κύμβαλον (kúmbalon), from κύμβη (kúmbē, “bowl”). See also chime.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).