kudzu
/ˈkʊd.zuː/noun
kudzu is spelled K-U-D-Z-U: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 81,375th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, kudzu means “An Asian vine (several species in the genus Pueraria, but mostly Pueraria montana var. lobata, syn. Pueraria lobata in the US), grown as a root…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of kudzu is kudzus.
How many letters and syllables are in kudzu?
| Letters | 5: K-U-D-Z-U |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 81,375th 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 kudzu?
Kudzu appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 81,375th 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 kudzu?
- /ˈkʊd.zuː/
- /ˈkʌd.zuː/
Kudzu 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-kudzu.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of kudzu
- kudzus plural
- kuzu
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does kudzu mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An Asian vine (several species in the genus Pueraria, but mostly Pueraria montana var. lobata, syn. Pueraria lobata in the US), grown as a root starch, and which is a notorious invasive weed in the United States.
- 2
A starch extracted from the root that is used in traditional East Asian medicine and cuisine.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Kudzu in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense an Asian vine:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Kudzu |
| Portuguese | kudzu |
| Spanish | kuzu |
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 kudzu come from?
From Japanese 葛(くず) (kuzu). The spelling kudzu (instead of kuzu) is due to the historical transliteration methods of Japanese into English (compare adzuki).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).