jackal
/ˈd͡ʒækəl/noun, verb
jackal is spelled J-A-C-K-A-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, jackal means “Any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jackal is jackals.
How many letters and syllables are in jackal?
| Letters | 6: J-A-C-K-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd 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 jackal?
Jackal appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd 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 jackal?
- /ˈd͡ʒækəl/
Jackal 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-jackal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of jackal
- jackals plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- jackaling US, participle, present
- jackalling UK, participle, present
- jackaled US, participle, past
- jackalled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does jackal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of certain wild canids of the genera Lupulella and Canis, native to the tropical Old World and smaller than a wolf.
- 2
A person who performs menial or routine tasks; a dogsbody.
- 3
derogatoryA person who behaves in an opportunistic way; especially, a base collaborator.
- 4
derogatoryA player who steals the ball at the tackle.
- 5
rareslangA jack (the playing card).
verb
- 1
To perform menial or routine tasks
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Jackal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense wild canine:
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 jackal come from?
Borrowed from French chacal, chacale, checale, schakal, ciacale, from Turkish çakal, from Ottoman Turkish چقال (çakâl), from Classical Persian شغال (šaġāl), borrowed from Sanskrit शृगाल (śṛgāla, “jackal”), the alternative form of सृगाल (sṛgāla).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).