pilchard
/ˈpɪl.t͡ʃɚd/noun
pilchard is spelled P-I-L-C-H-A-R-D: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 109,062nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pilchard means “Any of various small oily fish that are, or are related to, herrings, in the family Clupeidae” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pilchard is pilchards.
How many letters and syllables are in pilchard?
| Letters | 8: P-I-L-C-H-A-R-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 109,062nd 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 pilchard?
Pilchard appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 109,062nd 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 pilchard?
- UK /ˈpɪl.tʃəd/
- US /ˈpɪl.t͡ʃɚd/
Pilchard has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Sapaa-pilchard.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pilchard
- pilchards plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pilchard mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of various small oily fish that are, or are related to, herrings, in the family Clupeidae.
- 2
Sardina pilchardus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pilchard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a cigar-shaped fish with a short dorsal fin and forked tail:
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 pilchard come from?
From earlier pilcher, adapted to the suffix -ard. Further etymology unknown. Compare Dutch pelser.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).