hellebore
/ˈhɛlɪbɔːɹ/noun
hellebore is spelled H-E-L-L-E-B-O-R-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 110,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hellebore means “Any of the common garden flowering plants of the genus Helleborus, in family Ranunculaceae, having supposed medicinal properties” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hellebore is hellebores.
How many letters and syllables are in hellebore?
| Letters | 9: H-E-L-L-E-B-O-R-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 110,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is hellebore?
Hellebore appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 110,368th 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 hellebore?
- UK /ˈhɛlɪbɔː/
- US /ˈhɛlɪbɔːɹ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-hellebore.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hellebore
- hellebores plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hellebore mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of the common garden flowering plants of the genus Helleborus, in family Ranunculaceae, having supposed medicinal properties.
- 2
A toxic extract of certain false hellebores (Veratrum album or Veratrum viride), formerly used as a pesticide.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hellebore in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Any species of genus Helleborus:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hellébore, ellébore |
| German | Nieswurz, Schneerose, Christrose |
| Portuguese | heléboro |
| Spanish | eléboro |
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 hellebore come from?
From Middle English ellebore, from Old French ellebre, elebore, from Medieval Latin eleborus, via Latin from Ancient Greek ἑλλέβορος (helléboros), possibly from ἄλκη (álkē, “elk [moose]”) βιβρώσκω (bibrṓskō, “to eat”). The initial h was restored in English to reflect the Ancient Greek etymology.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).