pagoda
/pəˈɡoʊ.də/noun
pagoda is spelled P-A-G-O-D-A: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pagoda means “A tall building in an Indian, Burmese, or Thai style erected at Hindu or Buddhist temples in South and Southeast Asia, a stupa surmounted with a high…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pagoda is pagodas.
How many letters and syllables are in pagoda?
| Letters | 6: P-A-G-O-D-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,912th 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 pagoda?
Pagoda appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,912th 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 pagoda?
- US /pəˈɡoʊ.də/
- UK /pəˈɡəʊ.də/
Pagoda has 3 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)-Vininn126-pagoda.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with pagoda?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as pagoda from its last stressed vowel (/oʊdə/):
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 pagoda
- pagodas plural
- pagod
- pagodah
- pagodo
- bagoda
- pagode
- pagothe
- pagotha
- pagodoe
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pagoda mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteA Hindu temple.
This King of Calycut was a Bramene, as others his Predeceſſours alſo were, which amongſt the Malabars are Prieſts, and for that it is a cuſtome and anncient order obſerved, that all the Kings doe dye in one Pagode, which is the houſe of pra
- 2
A tall building in an Indian, Burmese, or Thai style erected at Hindu or Buddhist temples in South and Southeast Asia, a stupa surmounted with a high point.
- 3
A multi-storey tower in a Chinese style used in various contexts across East Asia and Nepal, usually with upturned curving roofs above each storey.
- 4
archaicAlternative form of pagod, an idol, chiefly in South and Southeast Asia.
- 5
A unit of currency, a coin made of gold or half gold, issued by various dynasties and colonial powers in southern India.
I, in about two hours, notwithstanding the utmost caution, found myself minus upwards of six hundred pagodas […] .
- 6
rareShort for pagoda sleeve.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pagoda in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a tiered tower with multiple eaves:
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 pagoda come from?
From Portuguese pagode (“Hindu temple, Hindu idol, pagoda coin”), from any of various Dravidian languages' words of respectful address to Hindu gods and idols and their temples, including Malayalam പകോതി (pakōti, “Durga temple”), Kannada, and Tamil பகவதி (pakavati, “Durga, Parvati”), possibly corrupted under the influence of Portuguese pagão (“pagan”), all ultimately from Sanskrit भगवती (bhagavatī, “Holy One, used for goddesses”). Previously but mistakenly connected with various other languages from Persia to China.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).