percussion
/pɚˈkʌʃən/noun
percussion is spelled P-E-R-C-U-S-S-I-O-N: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, percussion means “The collision of two bodies in order to produce a sound” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of percussion is percussions.
How many letters and syllables are in percussion?
| Letters | 10: P-E-R-C-U-S-S-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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 percussion?
Percussion appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th 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 percussion?
- US /pɚˈkʌʃən/
Percussion 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: En-us-percussion.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with percussion?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as percussion from its last stressed vowel (/ʌʃən/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: supersonic.
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 percussion
- percussions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does percussion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The collision of two bodies in order to produce a sound.
- 2
The sound so produced.
- 3
The detonation of a percussion cap in a firearm.
- 4
The tapping of the body as an aid to medical diagnosis.
- 5
The section of an orchestra or band containing percussion instruments; such instruments considered as a group; in bands, may be separate from drum kits.
- 6
The repeated striking of an object to break or shape it, as in percussion drilling.
- 7
The outer side of the hand.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate percussion?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of percussion: perc..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Percussion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense music: section of percussion instruments:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | percussion |
| German | Perkussion |
| Portuguese | percussão |
| Spanish | percusión |
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 percussion come from?
From Middle English percussioun, from Middle French, Old French percussion, from Latin percussiō (“striking”), from percutiō (“to strike”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).