foreclosure
/fɔːɹˈkləʊʒ.əɹ/noun
foreclosure is spelled F-O-R-E-C-L-O-S-U-R-E: 11 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, foreclosure means “The proceeding, by a creditor, to regain property or other collateral following a default on mortgage payments” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of foreclosure is foreclosures.
How many letters and syllables are in foreclosure?
| Letters | 11: F-O-R-E-C-L-O-S-U-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th 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 foreclosure?
Foreclosure appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th 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 foreclosure?
- /fɔːɹˈkləʊʒ.əɹ/
Foreclosure has 3 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Grendelkhan-foreclosure.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of foreclosure
- foreclosures plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does foreclosure mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The proceeding, by a creditor, to regain property or other collateral following a default on mortgage payments.
- 2
The absence of a symbolic father for a fatherless child, as a cause for psychosis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Foreclosure in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense proceeding by a creditor:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | saisie d'hypothèque, saisie immobilière, saisie |
| German | Zwangsvollstreckung, Pfändung |
| Portuguese | execução |
| Spanish | embargo, ejecución de hipoteca, acción hipotecaria |
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 foreclosure come from?
From foreclose by analogy with closure, equivalent to fore- + closure.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).