hardening
noun, verb
hardening is spelled H-A-R-D-E-N-I-N-G: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,270th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hardening means “The process by which something hardens” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hardening is hardenings.
How many letters and syllables are in hardening?
| Letters | 9: H-A-R-D-E-N-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,270th 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 hardening?
Hardening appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,270th 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 hardening?
Hardening 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)-Vealhurl-hardening.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hardening
- hardenings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hardening mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The process by which something hardens.
- 2
Something which hardens.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of harden
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hardening in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense process:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | durcissement |
| German | Härten, Härtung |
| Spanish | endurecimiento |
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.