qalam
noun
qalam is spelled Q-A-L-A-M: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 78 million words in written English, the 279,513th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, qalam means “A reed pen used for Islamic calligraphy” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of qalam is qalams.
How many letters and syllables are in qalam?
| Letters | 5: Q-A-L-A-M |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 78 million words; the 279,513th 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 qalam?
Qalam appears about once in every 78 million words in written English, the 279,513th 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).
Forms of qalam
- qalams plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does qalam mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A reed pen used for Islamic calligraphy
The slender form of the reed pen–the qalam has frequently been compared to the thin, vertical stroke of the alif (Figure 1), the first letter of the Arabic alphabet and therefore the beginning of transmitted knowledge.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does qalam come from?
Borrowed from Arabic قَلَم (qalam, “pen”), derived from Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos, “reed”). Doublet of calamus.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).