hardwood
/ˈhɑɹdˌwʊd/noun, adjective
hardwood is spelled H-A-R-D-W-O-O-D: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hardwood means “The wood from any dicotyledonous tree, without regard to its hardness” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hardwood is hardwoods.
How many letters and syllables are in hardwood?
| Letters | 8: H-A-R-D-W-O-O-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th 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 hardwood?
Hardwood appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th 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 hardwood?
- US /ˈhɑɹdˌwʊd/
Hardwood 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-au-hardwood.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hardwood
- hardwoods plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hardwood mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The wood from any dicotyledonous tree, without regard to its hardness.
Balsa is a hardwood, but a soft hardwood.
- 2
(in more general use) As the preceding, but limited to those that are commercial timbers, and are at least average in hardness.
Ash, hickory and oak are some of the most prominent domestic hardwoods.
- 3
The tree or tree species that yields the preceding.
This hardwood has been planted extensively throughout the hills here.
- 4
A joint term for the commercial timbers, without distinguishing which.
You should have used hardwood for this window sill instead of this junk.
- 5
slangThe sport of basketball, in particular, an indoor basketball court; so named because the floor of an indoor basketball court is normally made of hardwood.
adjective
- 1
Made of interlocking hardwood boards.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate hardwood?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of hardwood: hdwd, hdwd..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hardwood in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the wood from any dicotyledonous tree:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bois dur, bois de feuillu |
| German | Laubholz, Hartholz |
| Portuguese | madeira dura |
| Spanish | madera dura |
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 hardwood come from?
From hard + wood. The term refers to the seed coat of the tree's seeds; it does not refer to the degree of hardness of the tree's wood, but it seems to do so and is usually assumed to do so by speakers not well informed about trees and timber.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).