marabou
/ˈmæɹəbuː/noun
marabou is spelled M-A-R-A-B-O-U: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, marabou means “Leptoptilos crumeniferus, a large wading bird native to Africa, with a naked head and neck adapted for scavenging” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of marabou is marabous.
How many letters and syllables are in marabou?
| Letters | 7: M-A-R-A-B-O-U |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 15 million words; the 115,751st 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 marabou?
Marabou appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 115,751st 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 marabou?
- /ˈmæɹəbuː/
Marabou 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-marabou.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of marabou
- marabous plural
- marabu
- marabout
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does marabou mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Leptoptilos crumeniferus, a large wading bird native to Africa, with a naked head and neck adapted for scavenging.
- 2
USdatedA person having five-eighths black ancestry; the offspring of a mulatto and a griffe.
- 3
A kind of thrown raw silk, naturally nearly white, but capable of being dyed without scouring.
- 4
A thin fabric made from this silk, as for scarves.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Marabou in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense large wading bird native to Africa:
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 marabou come from?
From French marabou, an older spelling of marabout.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).