pendulum
pen·du·lum/ˈpɛnd͡ʒələm/noun
pendulum is spelled P-E-N-D-U-L-U-M: 8 letters and 3 syllables (pen·du·lum). It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pendulum means “A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pendulum is pendulums or pendula.
How many letters and syllables are in pendulum?
| Letters | 8: P-E-N-D-U-L-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: pen·du·lum |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,356th 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 pendulum?
Pendulum appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,356th 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 pendulum?
- UK /ˈpɛnd͡ʒʊləm/
- UK /ˈpɛndjʊləm/
- US /ˈpɛnd͡ʒələm/
Pendulum has 3 syllables, split pen·du·lum in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-pendulum.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pendulum
- pendulums plural
- pendula plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pendulum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various devices such as clocks.
- 2
The tendency of a situation to oscillate (between two extremes).
- 3
A lamp, etc. suspended from a ceiling.
- 4
A watch's guard-ring by which it is attached to a chain.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pendulum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense body suspended from a fixed support:
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 pendulum come from?
Borrowed from the neuter of Latin pendulus (“hanging”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).