embankment
em·bank·ment/ɪmˈbeɪ̯ŋkmənt/noun
embankment is spelled E-M-B-A-N-K-M-E-N-T: 10 letters and 3 syllables (em·bank·ment). It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, embankment means “A long mound of earth, stone, or similar material, usually built for purposes such as to hold back or store water, for protection from weather or…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of embankment is embankments.
How many letters and syllables are in embankment?
| Letters | 10: E-M-B-A-N-K-M-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: em·bank·ment |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,835th 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 embankment?
Embankment appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,835th 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 embankment?
- /ɪmˈbæŋkmənt/
- [ɪmˈbæŋkmənt] ~ [ɪmˈbæŋkmn̩t]
- US /ɪmˈbeɪ̯ŋkmənt/
Embankment has 3 syllables, split em·bank·ment in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-embankment.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of embankment
- embankments plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does embankment mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A long mound of earth, stone, or similar material, usually built for purposes such as to hold back or store water, for protection from weather or enemies, or to support a road or railway.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Embankment in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense artificial mound of earth and stone:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chaussée, talus |
| German | Böschung, Bahndamm, Dammschüttung, Eindeichung |
| Portuguese | dique |
| Spanish | terraplén |
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 embankment come from?
From embank + -ment.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).