ecosystem
eco·sys·tem/ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/noun
ecosystem is spelled E-C-O-S-Y-S-T-E-M: 9 letters and 3 syllables (eco·sys·tem). It appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ecosystem means “A system formed by an ecological community and its environment that functions as a unit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ecosystem is ecosystems.
How many letters and syllables are in ecosystem?
| Letters | 9: E-C-O-S-Y-S-T-E-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: eco·sys·tem |
| In writing | 6.0 times per million words; the 9,878th 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 ecosystem?
Ecosystem appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th 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 ecosystem?
- UK /ˈiːkəʊˌsɪstəm/
- US /ˈikoʊˌsɪstəm/
Ecosystem has 3 syllables, split eco·sys·tem in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-ecosystem.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ecosystem
- ecosystems plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ecosystem mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A system formed by an ecological community and its environment that functions as a unit.
- 2
The interconnectedness of organisms (plants, animals, microbes) with each other and their environment.
- 3
A network of interconnected people, organizations, products or services that resembles a natural ecosystem due to the complex interdependencies.
The company’s ecosystem mainly comprises its supply chain, customers, end consumers and competitors.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ecosystem in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense system of an ecological community and its environment:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | écosystème |
| German | Ökosystem |
| Portuguese | ecossistema |
| Spanish | ecosistema |
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 ecosystem come from?
From eco- + system. Coined by English botanist Arthur Tansley in 1935 in a paper titled The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts in the journal Ecology.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).