pixel
/ˈpɪk.səl/noun, verb
pixel is spelled P-I-X-E-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pixel means “One of the tiny dots that make up the representation of an image in a computer's memory” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pixel is pixels.
How many letters and syllables are in pixel?
| Letters | 5: P-I-X-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is pixel?
Pixel appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd 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 pixel?
- /ˈpɪk.səl/
- /ˈpɪk.sɛl/
Pixel 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)-Vealhurl-pixel.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with pixel?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as pixel.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: plexi.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of pixel
- pixels plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pixeling US, participle, present
- pixelling UK, participle, present
- pixeled US, participle, past
- pixelled UK, participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pixel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
One of the tiny dots that make up the representation of an image in a computer's memory.
- 2
One of the squares that make up a work of pixel art or a zoomed-in image in a computer.
- 3
A unit of measure used in screen displays, resolutions, and similar visual media that represents either linear measure or area.
verb
- 1
To create computer graphics by editing individual pixels.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pixel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense one of the tiny dots that make up the representation of an image in a computer's:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pixel |
| German | Pixel, Bildpunkt, Bildelement |
| Portuguese | pixel, píxel |
| Spanish | píxel, pixel |
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 pixel come from?
pix (“pictures”), + el(ement); often taken to be a blend of “picture” and “element”. The ⟨x⟩ stems from the abbreviation pics being sometimes also written as pix, which has been in use since the 1880s. First attested in 1965.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).