heteroatom
noun
heteroatom is spelled H-E-T-E-R-O-A-T-O-M: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, heteroatom means “Any atom which is not carbon or hydrogen” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of heteroatom is heteroatoms.
How many letters and syllables are in heteroatom?
| Letters | 10: H-E-T-E-R-O-A-T-O-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 161,690th 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 heteroatom?
Heteroatom appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th 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).
Forms of heteroatom
- heteroatoms plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does heteroatom mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any atom which is not carbon or hydrogen.
- 2
Any atom in a heterocyclic ring (or other structure normally built of carbon atoms) that is not a carbon atom.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Heteroatom in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense non-carbon atom in a carbon structure:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Heteroatom |
| Spanish | heteroátomo |
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 heteroatom come from?
From hetero- + atom.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).