punnet
/ˈpʌnɪt/noun
punnet is spelled P-U-N-N-E-T: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, punnet means “A small basket or receptacle for collecting and selling fruit, particularly strawberries” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of punnet is punnets.
How many letters and syllables are in punnet?
| Letters | 6: P-U-N-N-E-T |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 28 million words; the 161,690th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is punnet?
Punnet appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th 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 punnet?
- /ˈpʌnɪt/
- /ˈpʌnət/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-punnet.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of punnet
- punnets plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does punnet mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
CommonwealthIrelandUKA small basket or receptacle for collecting and selling fruit, particularly strawberries.
Thus, according to the same Year-Book, a sea-kale punnet measures 8 in. in diameter at the top and 7½ in. at the bottom, being 2 in. deep, while a radish punnet is 8 in. in diameter and 1 in. deep, if to hold six “hands,” or 9 in. by 1 in.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Punnet in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense small receptacle:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | barquette, cagette |
| German | Körbchen |
| Spanish | canastilla |
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 punnet come from?
Uncertain. First appears in the 1820s. Perhaps a diminutive of pun, a dialect variant of pound, the weight + -et. The suggestion that it is an eponym of Reginald Crundall Punnett (1875–1967), geneticist and grower of strawberries, is not chronologically possible. The suggestion it was an ancestor of his lacks evidence. Very likely to have originated from the french word bannette, wicker basket for bread proofing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).