lioness
/ˈlaɪ.ə.nɪs/noun
lioness is spelled L-I-O-N-E-S-S: 7 letters. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,336th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, lioness means “A female lion (animal)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of lioness is lionesses.
How many letters and syllables are in lioness?
| Letters | 7: L-I-O-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 39,336th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is lioness?
Lioness appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 39,336th 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 lioness?
- /ˈlaɪ.ə.nɪs/
- /ˈlaɪ.ə.nɛs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-lioness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of lioness
- lionesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does lioness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A female lion (animal).
- 2
A female lion (famous person regarded with interest and curiosity).
- 3
obsoleteA female visitor to a student at Oxford, especially during commemoration week.
noun
- 1
A player for England women's national football team
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Lioness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense female lion:
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 lioness come from?
From Middle English leonesse, lyonesse, from Old French leonesse, lionesse; equivalent to lion + -ess.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).