extermination
noun
extermination is spelled E-X-T-E-R-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N: 13 letters and 5 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, extermination means “The act of exterminating; total destruction or eradication” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of extermination is exterminations.
How many letters and syllables are in extermination?
| Letters | 13: E-X-T-E-R-M-I-N-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,463rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is extermination?
Extermination appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,463rd 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 extermination?
- US
Extermination has 5 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-extermination.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of extermination
- exterminations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does extermination mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of exterminating; total destruction or eradication.
extermination of error or vice
- 2
Elimination.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Extermination in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the act of exterminating:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | extermination |
| German | Ausrottung, Vernichtung |
| Portuguese | exterminação, extermínio |
| Spanish | exterminio, exterminación |
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 extermination come from?
Borrowed from Middle French extermination, itself a learned borrowing from Ecclesiastical Latin exterminātiō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).