hollyhock
hol·ly·hock/ˈhɑlihɑk/noun
hollyhock is spelled H-O-L-L-Y-H-O-C-K: 9 letters and 3 syllables (hol·ly·hock). It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 106,501st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hollyhock means “Any of several flowering plants of the genus Alcea in the Malvaceae family” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hollyhock is hollyhocks.
How many letters and syllables are in hollyhock?
| Letters | 9: H-O-L-L-Y-H-O-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: hol·ly·hock |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 106,501st 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 hollyhock?
Hollyhock appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 106,501st 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 hollyhock?
- US /ˈhɑlihɑk/
- UK /ˈhɒlihɒk/
Hollyhock has 3 syllables, split hol·ly·hock in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hollyhock.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hollyhock
- hollyhocks plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hollyhock mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of several flowering plants of the genus Alcea in the Malvaceae family.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hollyhock in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense plant:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rose trémière |
| German | Stockrose, Herbstrose, Rosenmalve |
| Portuguese | malva-rosa |
| Spanish | malva real, malva arbórea, malva rósea, malva loca, malvarrosa |
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 hollyhock come from?
From Middle English holihocke, holyhokke, holihoc, from holi (“holy”) + hocke, hokke, hoc (“mallow”) (from Old English hoc (“marsh mallow”). The modern hollyhock was probably unknown in England until the 15th century, so usage before then no doubt referred to some other mallow. Apparently so called for being brought from the Holy Land; compare an old name for it in Medieval Latin cauli Sancti Cuthberti (“St. Cuthbert's cole”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).