paralysis
/pəˈɹæləsəs/noun
paralysis is spelled P-A-R-A-L-Y-S-I-S: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, paralysis means “The complete loss of voluntary control of part of a living body, such as one or more limbs” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of paralysis is paralyses.
How many letters and syllables are in paralysis?
| Letters | 9: P-A-R-A-L-Y-S-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,368th 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 paralysis?
Paralysis appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,368th 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 paralysis?
- US /pəˈɹæləsəs/
Paralysis has 4 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-paralysis.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of paralysis
- paralyses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does paralysis mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The complete loss of voluntary control of part of a living body, such as one or more limbs.
- 2
A state of being unable to act.
The government has been in a paralysis since it lost its majority in the parliament.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Paralysis in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense loss of muscle control:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | paralysie |
| German | Paralyse, Lähmung, Muskellähmung |
| Portuguese | paralisia |
| Spanish | parálisis |
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 paralysis come from?
Borrowed from Latin paralysis, from Ancient Greek παράλυσις (parálusis, “palsy”), from παραλύω (paralúō, “to disable on one side”). By surface analysis, para- + -lysis. Doublet of palsy.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).