latent
/ˈleɪ.tənt/adjective, noun
latent is spelled L-A-T-E-N-T: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, latent means “Existing or present, but concealed or inactive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in latent?
| Letters | 6: L-A-T-E-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is latent?
Latent appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th 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 latent?
- /ˈleɪ.tənt/
Latent 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-latent.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with latent?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as latent.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: talent.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of latent
- latents plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does latent mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Existing or present, but concealed or inactive.
- 2
Remaining in an inactive or hidden phase; dormant.
- 3
Lying dormant or hidden until circumstances are suitable for development or manifestation.
- 4
datedLatently homosexual.
noun
- 1
The residue left by a person's finger that can be made visible by a process such as powder dusting; a latent fingerprint.
- 2
An underlying cause that can be inferred from statistical correlations; factor.
- 3
Anything that is latent.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Latent in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense existing or present but concealed or inactive:
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 latent come from?
From Middle English latent, latente, from Old French latent, from Latin latēns, present participle of lateō (“lie hidden”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).