phosphate
/ˈfɑsfeɪt/noun, verb
phosphate is spelled P-H-O-S-P-H-A-T-E: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,687th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, phosphate means “Any salt or ester of phosphoric acid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of phosphate is phosphates.
How many letters and syllables are in phosphate?
| Letters | 9: P-H-O-S-P-H-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,687th 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 phosphate?
Phosphate appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,687th 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 phosphate?
- UK /ˈfɒsfeɪt/
- US /ˈfɑsfeɪt/
Phosphate 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)-Tesco250-phosphate.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-phosphate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of phosphate
- phosphates plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- phosphating participle, present
- phosphated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does phosphate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any salt or ester of phosphoric acid.
- 2
Any fertiliser containing phosphate compounds.
- 3
Guano (containing high levels of phosphates and harvested for the fertiliser industry).
- 4
USdatedA carbonated soft drink containing phosphoric acid, often flavored with a fruit-based syrup.
verb
- 1
To treat or coat with a phosphate or phosphoric acid.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Phosphate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | phosphate , phosphater |
| German | Phosphat |
| Portuguese | fosfato |
| Spanish | fosfato , fosfatar |
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.