osteoporosis
/ˌɒstiəʊpəˈɹəʊsɪs/noun
osteoporosis is spelled O-S-T-E-O-P-O-R-O-S-I-S: 12 letters and 6 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,270th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, osteoporosis means “A disease, occurring especially in women following menopause, in which the bones become extremely porous and are subject to fracture” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of osteoporosis is osteoporoses.
How many letters and syllables are in osteoporosis?
| Letters | 12: O-S-T-E-O-P-O-R-O-S-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 6 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,270th 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 osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,270th 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 osteoporosis?
- /ˌɒstiəʊpəˈɹəʊsɪs/
Osteoporosis has 6 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-osteoporosis.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-osteoporosis.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of osteoporosis
- osteoporoses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does osteoporosis mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A disease, occurring especially in women following menopause, in which the bones become extremely porous and are subject to fracture.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Osteoporosis in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense bone disease:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ostéoporose |
| German | Osteoporose |
| Portuguese | osteoporose |
| Spanish | osteoporosis |
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 osteoporosis come from?
From Ancient Greek ὀστέον (ostéon, “bone”) + Ancient Greek πώρωσις (pṓrōsis, “petrification, callousness”), from Ancient Greek πῶρος (pôros, “tuff, a porous type of rock”). By surface analysis, osteo- + pore + -osis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).