halo
/ˈhæləʊ/noun, verb
halo is spelled H-A-L-O: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, halo means “A circular band of coloured light, visible around the sun or moon etc., caused by reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of halo is halos or haloes.
How many letters and syllables are in halo?
| Letters | 4: H-A-L-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.6 times per million words; the 10,358th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| 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 halo?
Halo appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th 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 halo?
- /ˈhæləʊ/
Halo 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Tesco250-halo-.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with halo?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as halo.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: hola.
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 halo
- halos plural
- haloes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- haloing participle, present
- haloed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does halo mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A circular band of coloured light, visible around the sun or moon etc., caused by reflection and refraction of light by ice crystals in the atmosphere.
- 2
A cloud of gas and other matter surrounding and captured by the gravitational field of a large diffuse astronomical object, such as a galaxy or cluster of galaxies.
- 3
Anything resembling this band, such as an effect caused by imperfect developing of photographs.
- 4
nimbus, a luminous disc, often of gold, around or over the heads of saints, etc., in religious paintings.
- 5
The metaphorical aura of glory, veneration or sentiment which surrounds an idealized entity.
her halo slipped
- 6
The bias caused by the halo effect.
- 7
a circular annulus ring, frequently luminous, often golden, floating above the head
- 8
A circular brace used to keep the head and neck in position.
- 9
slangThe anabolic steroid fluoxymesterone, also known as Halotestin.
verb
- 1
To encircle with a halo.
noun
- 1
Acronym of high altitude, low opening (“a type of skydiving where one leaves the launch platform from a high altitude and opens the parachute at a very low altitude”).
When you have enough experience, you can do a HALO jump.
- 2
Acronym of hazardous area life-support organization.
- 3
Acronym of high altitude, low orbiting.
Weather balloons at maximum altitude are considered HALOs.
- 4
Acronym of heavy assets, low obsolescence (“AI-resistant stocks”).
noun
- 1
informalA member of the Angels Major League Baseball team.
- 2
Alternative letter-case form of HALO.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Halo in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | halo , auréole, nimbe |
| German | Halo , Heiligenschein , Nimbus |
| Portuguese | halo, auréola , nimbo , aureolar , halo- |
| Spanish | halo , nimbo, aureola , nimbar , halo- |
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.