penchant
/ˈpɛnt͡ʃənt/noun
penchant is spelled P-E-N-C-H-A-N-T: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, penchant means “A taste, liking, or inclination for (something)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of penchant is penchants.
How many letters and syllables are in penchant?
| Letters | 8: P-E-N-C-H-A-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.2 times per million words; the 26,420th 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 penchant?
Penchant appears 1.2 times per million words in written English, the 26,420th 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 penchant?
- UK /ˈpɒnʃɒn/
- UK /ˈpɛnt͡ʃənt/
- US /ˈpɛnt͡ʃənt/
Penchant 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-penchant.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-penchant.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of penchant
- penchants plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does penchant mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A taste, liking, or inclination for (something).
He has a penchant for fine wine.
- 2
A card game resembling bezique.
- 3
In the game of penchant, any queen and jack of different suits held at the same time.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Penchant in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense taste, liking, or inclination (for):
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | penchant |
| German | Vorliebe, Hang, Neigung |
| Portuguese | inclinação, predisposição |
| Spanish | afición, enza, querencia |
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 penchant come from?
Unadapted borrowing from French penchant, present participle of pencher (“to tilt, to lean”), from Middle French, from Old French pengier (“to tilt, be out of line”), from Vulgar Latin *pendicāre, a derivative of Latin pendere (“to hang”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).