ivy
/ˈaɪvi/noun
ivy is spelled I-V-Y: 3 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, ivy means “Any of several woody, climbing, or trailing evergreen plants of the genus Hedera” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ivy is ivies.
How many letters and syllables are in ivy?
| Letters | 3: I-V-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th 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 ivy?
Ivy appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th 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 ivy?
- /ˈaɪvi/
Ivy 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). Recordings: En-us-ivy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of ivy
- ivies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does ivy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of several woody, climbing, or trailing evergreen plants of the genus Hedera.
- 2
Any similar plant of any genus.
noun
- 1
informalA university that is part of the Ivy League.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Ivy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense plant of the genus Hedera:
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 ivy come from?
From Middle English ivi, from Old English īfiġ, from Proto-West Germanic *ibig, *ibag, *ibah, from Proto-Germanic *ibahs (compare West Flemish iefte, Low German Eiloov, Ieloof, German Efeu), from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)ebʰ- (compare Welsh efwr (“black elder”), Ancient Greek ἴφυον (íphuon, “spike-lavender, Lavandula Spica”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).