retrieval
/ɹɪˈtɹiːvəl/noun
retrieval is spelled R-E-T-R-I-E-V-A-L: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, retrieval means “The act of retrieving or something retrieved” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of retrieval is retrievals.
How many letters and syllables are in retrieval?
| Letters | 9: R-E-T-R-I-E-V-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th 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 retrieval?
Retrieval appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th 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 retrieval?
- /ɹɪˈtɹiːvəl/
Retrieval has 3 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-retrieval.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-retrieval.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of retrieval
- retrievals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does retrieval mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of retrieving or something retrieved.
Search dogs assisted in the retrieval of survivors.
- 2
The operation of accessing data, either from memory or from a storage device.
data retrieval
- 3
The cognitive process of bringing stored information into consciousness.
information retrieval
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Retrieval in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act of retrieving:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | récupération |
| Spanish | entregamiento, diñamiento |
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.