merle
/mɝl/noun
merle is spelled M-E-R-L-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Merle, the name). As a noun, merle means “A Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of merle is merles.
How many letters and syllables are in merle?
| Letters | 5: M-E-R-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,462nd 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 and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 merle?
Merle appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,462nd most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Merle, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce merle?
- UK /mɜːl/
- US /mɝl/
Merle has one syllable (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-merle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with merle?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as merle from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹl/):
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 merle
- merles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does merle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A Eurasian blackbird, Turdus merula.
- 2
Any blackbird.
- 3
A type of mottled coloration on dogs.
- 4
A dog having this coloration.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does merle come from?
From Middle English merle, from Old French merle (French merle), from Latin merula (“blackbird”) (whence the directly borrowed Middle English merule, and compare the taxonomic name Turdus merula), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂mes- (“black, blackbird”). Compare Breton moualch (“ouzel”), Welsh mwyalch (“blackbird, thrush”). Distantly related to the synonymous ouzel.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).