plectrum
/ˈplɛk.tɹəm/noun
plectrum is a noun meaning “A small piece of plastic, metal, ivory, etc., for plucking the strings of a guitar, lyre, mandolin, etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled P-L-E-C-T-R-U-M, and it appears about once in every 13 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of plectrum is plectrums or plectra.
What does plectrum mean?
noun
- 1
A small piece of plastic, metal, ivory, etc., for plucking the strings of a guitar, lyre, mandolin, etc.
- 2
A projection of bone or other stiff tissue, such as the ridges in some insects' stridulatory organs.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce plectrum?
- /ˈplɛk.tɹəm/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-plectrum.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of plectrum
- plectrums plural
- plectra plural
- plectron
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is plectrum?
Plectrum appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 110,368th 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).
Plectrum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense music: small piece for plucking strings:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plectre, médiator, pick, onglet |
| German | Plektron, Plektrum |
| Portuguese | plectro, palheta |
| Spanish | plectro, púa, vitela |
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 plectrum come from?
Borrowed from Latin plēctrum, from Ancient Greek πλῆκτρον (plêktron, “anything to strike with, an instrument for striking the lyre, a spear point”), from πλήσσειν (plḗssein, “to strike, to smite, to sting”). Displaced native Old English sleġel.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).