puffin
/ˈpʌfɪn/noun
puffin is spelled P-U-F-F-I-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, puffin means “The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) or (by extension) any of the other various small seabirds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda that are black…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of puffin is puffins.
How many letters and syllables are in puffin?
| Letters | 6: P-U-F-F-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,663rd 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 puffin?
Puffin appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd 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 puffin?
- /ˈpʌfɪn/
Puffin 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-puffin.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of puffin
- puffins plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does puffin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
obsoleteThe young of the Manx shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), especially eaten as food.
- 2
The Atlantic puffin (Fratercula arctica) or (by extension) any of the other various small seabirds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda that are black and white with a brightly-coloured beak.
- 3
Any of various African and Asian pierid butterflies of the genus Appias. Some species of this genus are also known as albatrosses.
- 4
obsoleteA puffball.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Puffin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Fratercula arctica:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | macareux |
| German | Lund, Lundevogel, Papageitaucher, Papageientaucher (F. arctica), Hundlund (F. corniculata), Gelbschopflund (F. cirrhata) |
| Portuguese | papagaio-do-mar |
| Spanish | frailecillo |
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 puffin come from?
From Middle English poffin, poffoun, puffon, equivalent to puff + -ing, or perhaps ultimately from Middle Cornish (compare Breton poc'han (“puffin”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).