hornpipe
noun, verb
hornpipe is spelled H-O-R-N-P-I-P-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 130,282nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hornpipe means “A musical instrument consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hornpipe is hornpipes.
How many letters and syllables are in hornpipe?
| Letters | 8: H-O-R-N-P-I-P-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 19 million words; the 130,282nd 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 hornpipe?
Hornpipe appears about once in every 19 million words in written English, the 130,282nd 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 hornpipe?
Hornpipe 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).
Forms of hornpipe
- hornpipes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- hornpiping participle, present
- hornpiped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hornpipe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A musical instrument consisting of a wooden pipe, with holes at intervals.
- 2
A solo dance commonly associated with seamen, involving kicking of the legs, with the arms mostly crossed.
- 3
A hard-shoe solo dance commonly performed in Irish stepdance, usually danced in 2/4 time.
- 4
Music played to the hornpipe dance
verb
- 1
To dance the hornpipe.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does hornpipe come from?
From Middle English hornpipe, hornpype, hornepipe, equivalent to horn + pipe; so called because the bell at the open end was sometimes made of horn.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).