rooibos
/ˈɹɔɪˌbɔs/noun
rooibos is spelled R-O-O-I-B-O-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rooibos means “A shrub (Aspalathus linearis) from which a tisane (herbal tea) is made” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in rooibos?
| Letters | 7: R-O-O-I-B-O-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 107,757th 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 rooibos?
Rooibos appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 107,757th 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 rooibos?
- UK /ˈɹɔɪ.bɒs/
- US /ˈɹɔɪˌbɔs/
- US /ˈɹɔɪˌbɑs/
Rooibos has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-rooibos.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of rooibos
- rooibosch
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rooibos mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A shrub (Aspalathus linearis) from which a tisane (herbal tea) is made.
- 2
The tisane (herbal tea) made from this plant.
- 3
Various shrubs of the genus Combretum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rooibos in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | rooibos, roïbos |
| German | Rooibos , Rooibostee |
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 rooibos come from?
Unadapted borrowing from Afrikaans rooibos (literally “redbush”), from Dutch rooi (“red”) + bos (“bush”). Compare related honeybush via Afrikaans heuningbos from heuning (“honey”) + bos (“bush”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).