echidna
/əˈkɪdnə/noun
echidna is spelled E-C-H-I-D-N-A: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, echidna means “Any of the small spined monotremes in the family Tachyglossidae, the four extant species of which are found in Australia and southern New Guinea” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of echidna is echidnas or echidnae.
How many letters and syllables are in echidna?
| Letters | 7: E-C-H-I-D-N-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,055th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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 echidna?
Echidna appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,055th 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 echidna?
- /əˈkɪdnə/
Echidna 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-echidna.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with echidna?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as echidna.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: chained.
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 echidna
- echidnas plural
- echidnae plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does echidna mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of the small spined monotremes in the family Tachyglossidae, the four extant species of which are found in Australia and southern New Guinea.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Echidna in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense any of the four species of small spined monotremes:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | échidné |
| German | Ameisenigel, Schnabeligel, Echidna |
| Portuguese | equidna |
| Spanish | equidna |
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 echidna come from?
Coined in scientific literature around 1811. Probably from Ancient Greek ἔχιδνα (ékhidna, “snake, viper”) via Latin echidna. Compare ἐχῖνος (ekhînos, “hedgehog, etc.”). However, this sense is problematic (unless it is a reference to the ant-eating tongue). The name perhaps belongs to Latin echinus (“sea urchin, hedgehog”) from the aforementioned Ancient Greek term's alternate sense of "sea-urchin" (also "sharp points"), which Watkins explains as "snake-eater", from ἔχις (ékhis, “snake”), though it may actually be from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰis (“hedgehog, hedgehog-like animals”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).