meniscus
/məˈnɪs.kəs/noun
meniscus is spelled M-E-N-I-S-C-U-S: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, meniscus means “A crescent moon, or an object shaped like it” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of meniscus is meniscuses or menisci.
How many letters and syllables are in meniscus?
| Letters | 8: M-E-N-I-S-C-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 38,416th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is meniscus?
Meniscus appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 38,416th 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 meniscus?
- US /məˈnɪs.kəs/
- US /mɛˈnɪs.kəs/
Meniscus has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-meniscus.ogg, En-au-meniscus.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with meniscus?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as meniscus from its last stressed vowel (/ɪskəs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of meniscus
- meniscuses plural
- menisci plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does meniscus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A crescent moon, or an object shaped like it.
- 2
A lens which is convex on one side and concave on the other, being crescent-shaped in cross-section.
- 3
The curved surface of liquids in tubes, whether concave or convex, caused by the surface tension of the liquid.
- 4
Either of two parts of the human knee that provide structural integrity to the knee when it undergoes tension and torsion.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Meniscus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the curved surface of liquids:
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 meniscus come from?
From Ancient Greek μηνίσκος (mēnískos, “crescent”), from μήνη (mḗnē, “moon”). Piecewise doublet of moonish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).