eclipse
/ɪˈklɪps/noun, verb
eclipse is spelled E-C-L-I-P-S-E. The wrong spelling people search most is eclispe: about 270 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 111 of all searches for the word. Eclipse is a noun meaning “An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and…”. The plural of eclipse is eclipses.
How many letters and syllables are in eclipse?
| Letters | 7: E-C-L-I-P-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 6.5 times per million words; the 9,463rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, eclispe, about 270 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); 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 do you spell eclipse?
Eclipse is spelled E-C-L-I-P-S-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 111 of the searches for eclipse in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is eclipse?
Eclipse appears 6.5 times per million words in written English, the 9,463rd 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 eclipse?
- /ɪˈklɪps/
- /iˈklɪps/
Eclipse has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-eclipse.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of eclipse
- eclipses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- eclipsing participle, present
- eclipsed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does eclipse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An alignment of astronomical objects whereby one object comes between the observer (or notional observer) and another object, thus obscuring the latter.
- 2
Especially, an alignment whereby a planetary object (for example, the Moon) comes between the Sun and another planetary object (for example, the Earth), resulting in a shadow being cast by the middle planetary object onto the other planetary object.
- 3
A seasonal state of plumage in some birds, notably ducks, adopted temporarily after the breeding season and characterised by a dull and scruffy appearance.
- 4
Obscurity, decline, downfall.
a. 1618, Walter Raleigh, quoted in Eclipse, entry in 1805, Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, Volume 2, unnumbered page, All the posterity of our first parents suffered a perpetual eclipse of spiritual life.
verb
- 1
Of astronomical or atmospheric bodies, to cause an eclipse.
The Moon eclipsed the Sun.
- 2
To overshadow; to be better or more noticeable than.
- 3
To undergo eclipsis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Eclipse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | éclipse , éclipser |
| German | Finsternis, Eklipse, Sonnenfinsternis, Mondfinsternis, Verdunklung , bedecken |
| Portuguese | eclipse , eclipsar |
| Spanish | eclipse, eclipsi , eclipsar |
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 eclipse come from?
From Middle English eclipse, from Old French eclipse, from Latin eclīpsis, from Ancient Greek ἔκλειψις (ékleipsis, “eclipse”), from ἐκλείπω (ekleípō, “to abandon, go missing, vanish”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) and λείπω (leípō, “to leave behind”). Doublet of eclipsis. See also ellipse, ellipsis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).