pruning
/ˈpɹuːnɪŋ/noun, verb
pruning is spelled P-R-U-N-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pruning means “A removal of excess material from a tree or shrub” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pruning is prunings.
How many letters and syllables are in pruning?
| Letters | 7: P-R-U-N-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,150th 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 pruning?
Pruning appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,150th 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 pruning?
- /ˈpɹuːnɪŋ/
Pruning 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)-Flame,_not_lame-pruning.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pruning
- prunings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pruning mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A removal of excess material from a tree or shrub.
- 2
Something obtained by pruning, as a twig.
- 3
A method of enumeration that allows the cutting out of parts of a decision tree.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of prune
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pruning in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense action of pruning:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | reduzieren |
| Portuguese | poda |
| Spanish | poda, podada, podadura, podazón |
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 pruning come from?
From prune + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).