malathion
noun
malathion is spelled M-A-L-A-T-H-I-O-N: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, malathion means “An organophosphorus insecticide, Diethyl [(dimethoxyphosphinothioyl)-thio]butanedioate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of malathion is malathions.
How many letters and syllables are in malathion?
| Letters | 9: M-A-L-A-T-H-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 18 million words; the 127,184th 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 malathion?
Malathion appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 127,184th 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 malathion?
Malathion 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).
Forms of malathion
- malathions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does malathion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An organophosphorus insecticide, Diethyl [(dimethoxyphosphinothioyl)-thio]butanedioate.
"Although effective in degrading pesticides with P-O bonds, washing of the vegetables sprayed with the thiolester organophosphate insecticide malathion with the enzyme did not yield any improved degradation."
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does malathion come from?
From malate + -thion. Coined as a trade name.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).