lanthanum
/ˈlænθənəm/noun
lanthanum is spelled L-A-N-T-H-A-N-U-M: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 89,388th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lanthanum means “A chemical element (symbol La) with an atomic number of 57: a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes slowly when exposed to air” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lanthanum is lanthanums.
How many letters and syllables are in lanthanum?
| Letters | 9: L-A-N-T-H-A-N-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 89,388th 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 lanthanum?
Lanthanum appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 89,388th 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 lanthanum?
- /ˈlænθənəm/
Lanthanum has 3 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)-Vininn126-lanthanum.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-lanthanum.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Tesco250-lanthanum.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lanthanum
- lanthanums plural
- lantanium
- lanthanium
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lanthanum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A chemical element (symbol La) with an atomic number of 57: a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes slowly when exposed to air.
- 2
An atom of this element.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lanthanum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense metallic element:
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 lanthanum come from?
From Ancient Greek λανθάνω (lanthánō, “to escape notice”) + -um (“a chemical element”), because it had gone long undetected in mineral ores.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).