pabulum
pa·bu·lum/ˈpæbjʊləm/noun
pabulum is spelled P-A-B-U-L-U-M: 7 letters and 3 syllables (pa·bu·lum). It appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pabulum means “Food or fodder, particularly that taken in by plants or animals” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pabulum is pabula or pabulums.
How many letters and syllables are in pabulum?
| Letters | 7: P-A-B-U-L-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: pa·bu·lum |
| In writing | about once in every 46 million words; the 209,386th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is pabulum?
Pabulum appears about once in every 46 million words in written English, the 209,386th 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 pabulum?
- UK /ˈpabjʊləm/
- UK /ˈpabjələm/
- US /ˈpæbjʊləm/
Pabulum has 3 syllables, split pa·bu·lum in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pabulum.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pabulum
- pabula plural
- pabulums plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pabulum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Food or fodder, particularly that taken in by plants or animals.
- 2
Material that feeds a fire.
- 3
Food for thought.
- 4
Bland intellectual fare; an undemanding diet of words.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pabulum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense food or fodder:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | pábulo |
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 pabulum come from?
Borrowed from Latin pābulum (“food, nourishment; fodder or pasture for animals; nourishment for the mind, food for thought”), from pā(scō) (“to nourish”) + -bulum (suffix denoting an instrument), or directly from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-dʰlom (*peh₂- (“to protect, shepherd”) + *-dʰlom, variant of *-trom (suffix denoting a tool or instrument)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).