pumpernickel
/ˈpʌmpɚˌnɪkl̩/noun
pumpernickel is spelled P-U-M-P-E-R-N-I-C-K-E-L: 12 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pumpernickel means “A German sourdough bread made from rye” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pumpernickel is pumpernickels.
How many letters and syllables are in pumpernickel?
| Letters | 12: P-U-M-P-E-R-N-I-C-K-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 107,757th 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 pumpernickel?
Pumpernickel appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th 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 pumpernickel?
- US /ˈpʌmpɚˌnɪkl̩/
Pumpernickel has 4 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).
Forms of pumpernickel
- pumpernickels plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pumpernickel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A German sourdough bread made from rye.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does pumpernickel come from?
From Westphalian German Pumpernickel, from Pumper (“fart”) (or a related form, such as pumpern) and Nickel (“rascal”) (from the male name Nikolaus (“Nicholas”)), possibly originating as an insult for a person or for the bread itself by outsiders. A false folk etymology claims that this comes from the phrase pain pour Nicole ("bread for Nicole"), referring to Napoleon disliking the taste so much that he thought it was fit for his horse Nicole.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).