glycerol
/ˈɡlɪs.ə.rɔl/noun
glycerol is spelled G-L-Y-C-E-R-O-L: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, glycerol means “1,2,3-trihydroxy-propane or propan-1,2,3-triol; a trihydric alcohol” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of glycerol is glycerols.
How many letters and syllables are in glycerol?
| Letters | 8: G-L-Y-C-E-R-O-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,775th 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 glycerol?
Glycerol appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,775th 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 glycerol?
- UK /ˈɡlɪs.ə.rɒl/
- US /ˈɡlɪs.ə.rɔl/
- US /ˈɡlɪs.ə.rɑl/
Glycerol 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)-Tesco250-glycerol.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Qwertygiy-glycerol.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of glycerol
- glycerols plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does glycerol mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
1,2,3-trihydroxy-propane or propan-1,2,3-triol; a trihydric alcohol
- 2
A syrupy sweet liquid obtained as a by-product in the manufacture of soap from animal or vegetable oils and fats; it is used as an antifreeze, a plasticizer, and a food sweetener and in the manufacture of dynamite, cosmetics etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Glycerol in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a sweet syrupy oily liquid:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | glycérol |
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 glycerol come from?
From glycerine + -ol.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).