mambo
/ˈmɑmboʊ/noun, verb
mambo is spelled M-A-M-B-O: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,943rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mambo means “A voodoo priestess (in Haiti)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mambo is mambos or mamboes.
How many letters and syllables are in mambo?
| Letters | 5: M-A-M-B-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,943rd 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 mambo?
Mambo appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,943rd 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 mambo?
- UK /ˈmæmbəʊ/
- US /ˈmɑmboʊ/
Mambo 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mambo.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of mambo
- mambos plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- mamboes plural
- manbo
- mamboing participle, present
- mamboed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mambo mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A voodoo priestess (in Haiti)
The manbo showed her how to take small handfuls of liquid and spread it on her skin always moving in the upward direction.
- 2
A Latin-American musical genre, adapted from rumba, originating from Cuba in the 1940s, or a dance or rhythm of this genre.
verb
- 1
To perform this dance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mambo in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Latin American music genre:
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 mambo come from?
From Haitian Creole manbo (“voodoo priestess”) (ultimately from Yoruba mambo (“to talk”)), in later senses via Cuban Spanish mambo (“dance”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).