gala
/ˈɡælə/adjective, noun
gala is spelled G-A-L-A: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, gala means “Celebratory; festive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in gala?
| Letters | 4: G-A-L-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.7 times per million words; the 11,685th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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 gala?
Gala appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th 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 gala?
- UK /ˈɡɑːlə/
- US /ˈɡælə/
- US /ˈɡeɪlə/
Gala 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-uk-gala.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Gala.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-Gala2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with gala?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as gala from its last stressed vowel (/ælə/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: alga, agal.
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 gala
- galas plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gala mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Celebratory; festive.
noun
- 1
Pomp, show, or festivity.
- 2
A competition.
a swimming gala
- 3
A showy and festive party.
- 4
A red-skinned variety of eating apple.
- 5
A member of an androgynous class of priests of the Sumerian goddess Inanna.
(6) Some galas/kalûs are mentioned in Pre-Sargonic and Old Babylonian texts in connection with classes of women, maids, and ḫarimtu-women. (7) The gala is sometimes mentioned in the same context with other functionaries […]
noun
- 1
A type of apple, a cross-pollination between Kidd's Orange Red and Golden Delicious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gala in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 gala come from?
From French gala, or directly from that word's etymon, which is either Italian gala, or Spanish gala, both meaning "festive occasion", and derived from Old French gale (“rejoicing”). (The French word likely kept the final -a to avoid homophony with gale (“scabies”).) Ultimately cognate to gallant and hence probably from Frankish *wala (“good, well”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).