manslaughter
/ˈmænˌslɔtɚ/noun
manslaughter is spelled M-A-N-S-L-A-U-G-H-T-E-R: 12 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, manslaughter means “The unlawful killing of a human, either in negligence or incidentally to the commission of some unlawful act, but without specific malice, or upon a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of manslaughter is manslaughters.
How many letters and syllables are in manslaughter?
| Letters | 12: M-A-N-S-L-A-U-G-H-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.4 times per million words; the 17,587th 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 manslaughter?
Manslaughter appears 2.4 times per million words in written English, the 17,587th 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 manslaughter?
- UK /ˈmænˌslɔːtə/
- US /ˈmænˌslɔtɚ/
Manslaughter has 3 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-manslaughter.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of manslaughter
- manslaughters plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does manslaughter mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteThe slaying of a human being.
- 2
The unlawful killing of a human, either in negligence or incidentally to the commission of some unlawful act, but without specific malice, or upon a sudden excitement of anger; considered less culpable than murder, but more culpable than justifiable homicide.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Manslaughter in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of killing unlawfully:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | homicide involontaire, homicide involontaire coupable |
| German | Totschlag, [Verbrechen] mit Todesfolge, fahrlässige Tötung |
| Portuguese | homicídio culposo |
| Spanish | homicidio, homicidio involuntario |
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 manslaughter come from?
From Middle English manslaȝter, manslauter, equivalent to man + slaughter, or taken as an adaptation of Old English mansliht (“murder; killing of a person”), from mann (“person”) + sliht (“killing”), see manslaught. Cognate with Scots manslauchter (“homicide”). Compare also Old Frisian monslaga (“murder”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).