pilaf
/piːlæf/noun
pilaf is spelled P-I-L-A-F: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pilaf means “A dish made by browning grain, typically rice, in oil and then cooking it with a seasoned broth, to which meat and/or vegetables may be added” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pilaf is pilafs.
How many letters and syllables are in pilaf?
| Letters | 5: P-I-L-A-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 7 million words; the 77,666th 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 pilaf?
Pilaf appears about once in every 7 million words in written English, the 77,666th 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 pilaf?
- Australia /pɪlɐːf/
- UK /piːlɑːf/
- US /piːlæf/
Pilaf 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)-NaomiAmethyst-pilaf.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pilaf
- pilafs plural
- pilaff
- pillaf
- pillaff
- pillaw
- pilao
- pilau
- pilav
- plov
- polao
- pulao
- pulau
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pilaf mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A dish made by browning grain, typically rice, in oil and then cooking it with a seasoned broth, to which meat and/or vegetables may be added.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pilaf in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense dish:
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 pilaf come from?
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish پلاو (modern Turkish pilav), from Classical Persian پلاو (pilāw), from Hindi पुलाव (pulāv)/Urdu پُلاؤ (pulāo), from Sauraseni Prakrit *𑀧𑀼𑀮𑀸𑀕 (*pulāga), from Sanskrit पुलाक (pulāka), which is probably of Dravidian origin. Akin to Tamil புழுக்கு (puḻukku, “cooked rice”). Doublet of pulao.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).