rhotic
/ˈɹoʊ.tɪk/adjective, noun
rhotic is spelled R-H-O-T-I-C: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 128,787th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, rhotic means “That allows the phoneme /ɹ/ to be followed by a vowel, as in bar (/bɑːɹ/) and bard or barred (/bɑːɹd/); (of an English speaker) who speaks with such…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in rhotic?
| Letters | 6: R-H-O-T-I-C |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 18 million words; the 128,787th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is rhotic?
Rhotic appears about once in every 18 million words in written English, the 128,787th 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 rhotic?
- UK /ˈɹəʊ.tɪk/
- UK [ˈɹəʊ̯.t(ʰ)ɪk]
- US /ˈɹoʊ.tɪk/
Rhotic has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What rhymes with rhotic?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as rhotic from its last stressed vowel (/oʊtɪk/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of rhotic
- rhotics plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rhotic mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
That allows the phoneme /ɹ/ to be followed by a vowel, as in bar (/bɑːɹ/) and bard or barred (/bɑːɹd/); (of an English speaker) who speaks with such an accent.
Rhotic speech is common in Ireland, Scotland, much of the United States, Canada, West Country England, and many parts of the north and west of England.
- 2
Having a sound quality associated with the letter R; having the sound of any of certain IPA symbols, including /ɹ/, /ɻ/, /ɚ/, /ɝ/ and /r/.
Near-synonym: retroflex
noun
- 1
A rhotic consonant or rhotic vowel (R-coloured vowel).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rhotic in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense rhotic phoneme:
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 rhotic come from?
Back-formation from rhotacism, coined in 1968 by John C. Wells.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).