perpetuation
/pə(ɹ)ˌpɛtjuˈeɪʃən/noun
perpetuation is spelled P-E-R-P-E-T-U-A-T-I-O-N: 12 letters and 5 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, perpetuation means “The act of prolonging existence, of keeping something alive or active” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of perpetuation is perpetuations.
How many letters and syllables are in perpetuation?
| Letters | 12: P-E-R-P-E-T-U-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 60,074th 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 perpetuation?
Perpetuation appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 60,074th 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 perpetuation?
- /pə(ɹ)ˌpɛtjuˈeɪʃən/
Perpetuation has 5 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-perpetuation.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of perpetuation
- perpetuations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does perpetuation mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of prolonging existence, of keeping something alive or active.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Perpetuation in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense prolonging existence:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | perpétuation |
| Portuguese | perpetuação |
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.