headwaters
/ˈhɛdˌwɑtɝz/noun
headwaters is spelled H-E-A-D-W-A-T-E-R-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, headwaters means “The source of a river, the set of streams that feed into the river's beginning” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in headwaters?
| Letters | 10: H-E-A-D-W-A-T-E-R-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,187th 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 headwaters?
Headwaters appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,187th 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 headwaters?
- Canada /ˈhɛdˌwɑtɝz/
Headwaters 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)-Wodencafe-headwaters.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of headwaters
- head-waters
- head waters
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does headwaters mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The source of a river, the set of streams that feed into the river's beginning.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Headwaters in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the set of streams that feed into the beginning of a river:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | source |
| German | Quellflüsse, Quellgebiet |
| Portuguese | nascente, cabeceira, olho-d’água, exsurgência, mina de água, fonte |
| Spanish | cabecera, afloramiento, manantial, naciente, nascimiento, nacimiento |
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 headwaters come from?
From head + waters.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).