desideratum
de·si·de·ra·tum/dɪˌsɪdəˈɹɑːtəm/noun
desideratum is spelled D-E-S-I-D-E-R-A-T-U-M: 11 letters and 5 syllables (de·si·de·ra·tum). It appears about once in every 34 million words in written English, the 178,202nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, desideratum means “Something that is wished for, or considered desirable, particularly when thought to be essential” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of desideratum is desiderata.
How many letters and syllables are in desideratum?
| Letters | 11: D-E-S-I-D-E-R-A-T-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5: de·si·de·ra·tum |
| In writing | about once in every 34 million words; the 178,202nd 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 desideratum?
Desideratum appears about once in every 34 million words in written English, the 178,202nd 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 desideratum?
- UK /dɪˌsɪdəˈɹɑːtəm/
- UK /-ˌzɪ-/
- UK /-ˈɹeɪ-/
Desideratum has 5 syllables, split de·si·de·ra·tum in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-desideratum.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of desideratum
- desiderata plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does desideratum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Something that is wished for, or considered desirable, particularly when thought to be essential.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Desideratum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense something wished for, or considered desirable:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | désideratum, desideratum |
| German | Desideratum |
| Portuguese | desiderato |
| Spanish | desiderátum |
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 desideratum come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin dēsīderātum (“something that is desired”), neuter nominative singular of dēsīderātus, the passive past participle of dēsīderāre (“to desire”), from dēsīderō (“to desire, want, wish for”), from de- (intensifying prefix) + possibly sīdus (“star; constellation”) though the connection is unclear. The English word is cognate with French desideratum, Spanish desiderátum. The plural is derived from Latin dēsīderāta.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).