pumpkin
pump·kin/ˈpʌm(p).kɪn/noun
pumpkin is spelled P-U-M-P-K-I-N, 2 syllables: pump·kin. The wrong spelling people search most is pumkin: about 1,590 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 17 of all searches for the word. Pumpkin is a noun meaning “A domesticated plant, in species Cucurbita pepo, similar in growth pattern, foliage, flower, and fruit to the…”. The plural of pumpkin is pumpkins.
How many letters and syllables are in pumpkin?
| Letters | 7: P-U-M-P-K-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: pump·kin |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, pumkin, about 1,590 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell pumpkin?
Pumpkin is spelled P-U-M-P-K-I-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 17 of the searches for pumpkin in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is pumpkin?
Pumpkin appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th 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 pumpkin?
- UK /ˈpʌmpkɪn/
- US /ˈpʌm(p).kɪn/
- US [ˈpʰʌm(p).kʰɪn]
Pumpkin has 2 syllables, split pump·kin in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pumpkin.wav, En-us-pumpkin.ogg, En-au-pumpkin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pumpkin
- pumpkins plural
- punkin
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pumpkin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A domesticated plant, in species Cucurbita pepo, similar in growth pattern, foliage, flower, and fruit to the squash or melon.
- 2
The round yellow or orange fruit of this plant.
- 3
The typical color of the ripe fruit of the pumpkin plant.
- 4
AustraliaAny of a number of cultivars from the genus Cucurbita; known in the US as winter squash.
- 5
USA term of endearment for someone small and cute.
- 6
informalThe housing for a differential, built into an axle of a vehicle; the housing and its contents.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pumpkin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | citrouille , potiron |
| German | Kürbis, Kürbispflanze , Kürbisfrucht , Kürbisfarbe, Kürbisfarben |
| Portuguese | abóbora, aboboreira, jerimum |
| Spanish | calabaza, calabazera , calabazo |
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 pumpkin come from?
Alteration of pompion, pumpion (“pumpkin”) with the diminutive -kin, from Middle French pompon, from Latin pepō (whence English pepo), from Ancient Greek πέπων (pépōn, “large melon”), from πέπων (pépōn, “ripe”), from πέπτω (péptō, “ripen”). The first attestation is from 1647. The alternative theory that it may be from Massachusett pôhpukun (“grows forth round”) is false. The automotive sense is by fancied resemblance.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).