hyperbola
/haɪˈpɚ.bə.lə/noun
hyperbola is spelled H-Y-P-E-R-B-O-L-A: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 91,522nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hyperbola means “A conic section formed by the intersection of a cone with a plane that intersects the base of the cone and is not tangent to the cone. The function…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hyperbola is hyperbolas or hyperbolae.
How many letters and syllables are in hyperbola?
| Letters | 9: H-Y-P-E-R-B-O-L-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 91,522nd 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 hyperbola?
Hyperbola appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 91,522nd 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 hyperbola?
- US /haɪˈpɚ.bə.lə/
Hyperbola has 4 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)-Persent101-hyperbola.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-hyperbola.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of hyperbola
- hyperbolas plural
- hyperbolae plural
- hyperbolæ plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hyperbola mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A conic section formed by the intersection of a cone with a plane that intersects the base of the cone and is not tangent to the cone. The function y(x) = 1/x draws a hyperbola.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hyperbola in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense geometric curve:
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 hyperbola come from?
From New Latin hyperbola, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβολή (huperbolḗ). Doublet of hyperbole.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).