leukemia
/luːˈkiːmi.ə/noun
leukemia is spelled L-E-U-K-E-M-I-A: 8 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, leukemia means “Any of a class of types of cancer affecting the blood cells, especially the white blood cells (usually with massive leukocytosis), and the blood…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of leukemia is leukemias.
How many letters and syllables are in leukemia?
| Letters | 8: L-E-U-K-E-M-I-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th 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 leukemia?
Leukemia appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th 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 leukemia?
- /luːˈkiːmi.ə/
Leukemia has 4 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-leukemia.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with leukemia
Also written: leukaemia.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of leukemia
- leukemias plural
- leucaemia
- leucemia
- leukaemia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does leukemia mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of a class of types of cancer affecting the blood cells, especially the white blood cells (usually with massive leukocytosis), and the blood cell–forming (hematopoietic) tissues.
The subjects suffered from lymphoblastic and myeloid leukemias.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Leukemia in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense cancer of blood forming tissue:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | leucémie, leucose |
| German | Leukämie, Blutkrebs, Leukose, Weißblütigkeit |
| Portuguese | leucemia |
| Spanish | leucemia |
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 leukemia come from?
From German Leukämie, from Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) + αἷμα (haîma, “blood”). By surface analysis, leuk- + -emia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).