phthalate
phtha·late/ˈ(f)θæ.leɪt/noun
phthalate is spelled P-H-T-H-A-L-A-T-E: 9 letters and 2 syllables (phtha·late). It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 71,529th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, phthalate means “Any salt or ester of a phthalic acid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of phthalate is phthalates.
How many letters and syllables are in phthalate?
| Letters | 9: P-H-T-H-A-L-A-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: phtha·late |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 71,529th 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 phthalate?
Phthalate appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 71,529th 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 phthalate?
- UK /ˈ(f)θa.leɪt/
- US /ˈ(f)θæ.leɪt/
Phthalate has 2 syllables, split phtha·late in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-phthalate.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of phthalate
- phthalates plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does phthalate mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any salt or ester of a phthalic acid.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Phthalate in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense salt or ester:
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 phthalate come from?
From phthal(ic) + -ate (“salt or ester”), short for obsolete naphthalic acid, from naphthalene.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).