mumps
/mʌmps/noun, verb
mumps is spelled M-U-M-P-S: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mumps means “A contagious disease caused by the Mumps virus of the genus Rubulavirus, mostly occurring in childhood, which causes swelling of glands in the face…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in mumps?
| Letters | 5: M-U-M-P-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th 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 mumps?
Mumps appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th 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 mumps?
- /mʌmps/
Mumps 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-mumps.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What does mumps mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A contagious disease caused by the Mumps virus of the genus Rubulavirus, mostly occurring in childhood, which causes swelling of glands in the face and neck.
- 2
datedA gloomy or sullen silence.
- 3
plural of mump
verb
- 1
third-person singular simple present indicative of mump
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate mumps?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of mumps: MMR.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mumps in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense contagious disease:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | oreillons |
| German | Mumps, Ziegenpeter, Mumpf |
| Portuguese | parotidite epidémica, papeira, caxumba |
| Spanish | paperas, parotiditis |
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 mumps come from?
Circa 1600, from mump (“grimace”, noun), compare mump (verb), most likely referring to the painful difficulty in swallowing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).