prion
/ˈpɹiːɒn/noun
prion is spelled P-R-I-O-N: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, prion means “A self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of diseases that affect the brain and other neural tissue” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of prion is prions.
How many letters and syllables are in prion?
| Letters | 5: P-R-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th 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; 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 prion?
Prion appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th 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 prion?
- UK /ˈpɹiːɒn/
- UK /ˈpɹaɪən/
As a noun (“A petrel of the genera Pachyptila and Halobaena”): /ˈpɹaɪən/.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-prion.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-prion2.wav, En-us-prion.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with prion?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as prion (/iɒn/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ripon, porin.
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 prion
- prions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prion mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A self-propagating misfolded conformer of a protein that is responsible for a number of diseases that affect the brain and other neural tissue.
- 2
A petrel of the genera Pachyptila and Halobaena.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prion in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 prion come from?
From (a reordering of) the initial letters of proteinaceous infectious particle. Coined by American neurologist and biochemist Stanley B. Prusiner in 1982.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).