pontoon
/pɒnˈtuːn/noun
pontoon is spelled P-O-N-T-O-O-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,703rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pontoon means “A flat-bottomed boat or other floating structure used as a buoyant support for a temporary bridge, dock or landing stage” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pontoon is pontoons.
How many letters and syllables are in pontoon?
| Letters | 7: P-O-N-T-O-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 40,703rd 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 pontoon?
Pontoon appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,703rd 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 pontoon?
- /pɒnˈtuːn/
Pontoon 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: En-us-pontoon.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pontoon
- pontoons plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pontoon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A flat-bottomed boat or other floating structure used as a buoyant support for a temporary bridge, dock or landing stage.
- 2
A bridge with floating supports.
- 3
A box used to raise a sunken vessel.
Near-synonyms: caisson, camel, sea camel
- 4
A float of a seaplane.
- 5
A lighter or barge used for loading or unloading ships.
- 6
A card game in which the object is to obtain cards whose value adds up to, or nearly to, 21 but not exceed it.
- 7
A two-card hand totalling 21 in this game.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pontoon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense buoyant support for a temporary bridge, dock or landing stage:
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 pontoon come from?
Borrowed from Middle French ponton, from Old French ponton, from Latin pontō, pontōnem (“ferryboat”), from pōns (“bridge”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).