opal
/ˈoʊpəl/noun
opal is spelled O-P-A-L: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,362nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Opal, the name). As a noun, opal means “A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of opal is opals.
How many letters and syllables are in opal?
| Letters | 4: O-P-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.6 times per million words; the 22,362nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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 opal?
Opal appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,362nd most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Opal, 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 opal?
- UK /ˈəʊpəl/
- US /ˈoʊpəl/
Opal has 2 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-opal.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with opal?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as opal from its last stressed vowel (/oʊpəl/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: pola.
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 opal
- opals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does opal mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness and specific gravity, of the chemical formula SiO₂·nH₂O.
- 2
A precious gem, an iridescent gemstone found in the opal-silica mineral substrate (potch)
- 3
The colour of opal: any shade of blue with bright flecks of other colours, such as white, yellow, and red.
- 4
A colloquial name used in molecular biology referring to a particular stop codon sequence, "UGA."
- 5
Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the genus Nesolycaena.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Opal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a mineral consisting, like quartz, of silica, but inferior to quartz in hardness:
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 opal come from?
In Florio’s A World of Words 1598 as opale, from French opale, from Latin opalus, from Byzantine Greek ὀπάλλιος (opállios), from Sanskrit उपल (upala, “gem, stone”), from उपरि (upári, “the upper millstone”). Distantly related to over.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).