festoon
/fɛsˈtuːn/noun, verb
festoon is spelled F-E-S-T-O-O-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, festoon means “An ornament such as a garland or chain which hangs loosely from two tacked spots” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of festoon is festoons.
How many letters and syllables are in festoon?
| Letters | 7: F-E-S-T-O-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 95,993rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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 festoon?
Festoon appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd 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 festoon?
- US /fɛsˈtuːn/
Festoon has 2 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-festoon.ogg, En-au-festoon.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with festoon?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as festoon from its last stressed vowel (/un/):
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 festoon
- festoons plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- festooning participle, present
- festooned participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does festoon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An ornament such as a garland or chain which hangs loosely from two tacked spots.
- 2
A bas-relief, painting, or structural motif resembling such an ornament.
- 3
A raised cable with light globes attached.
- 4
A cloud on Jupiter that hangs out of its home belt or zone into an adjacent area forming a curved finger-like image or a complete loop back to its home belt or zone.
- 5
Any of a series of wrinkles on the backs of some ticks.
- 6
A specific style of electric light bulb consisting of a cylindrical enclosure with two points of contact on either end providing power to the filament or diode.
- 7
Two sets of rollers used to create a buffer of material on web handling equipment.
- 8
Any of various papilionid butterflies of the genus Zerynthia.
verb
- 1
To decorate as if with ornaments, such as garlands or chains, which hang loosely from two tacked spots.
- 2
To make festoons.
- 3
To decorate or bedeck abundantly.
He was bewildered by how the car was festooned with polka dots.
- 4
To apply texturing to (a denture) to simulate human tissue.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Festoon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | feston, guirlande , guirlande lumineuse , enguirlander |
| German | Feston, Girlande , Lichterkette |
| Portuguese | guirlanda , festoar, afestoar, festonar , festão |
| Spanish | guirnalda luminosa , enguirnaldar, engalanar , festón , festonar, festonear |
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 festoon come from?
Borrowed from French feston.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).