rotor
/ˈɹoʊ.tɚ/noun
rotor is spelled R-O-T-O-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,687th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, rotor means “A rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of rotor is rotors.
How many letters and syllables are in rotor?
| Letters | 5: R-O-T-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,687th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is rotor?
Rotor appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,687th 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 rotor?
- UK /ˈɹəʊ.tə/
- US /ˈɹoʊ.tɚ/
- /ˈɹoʊ.tə/
Rotor has 2 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-rotor.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-rotor.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with rotor
Sounds like: rota (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with rotor?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as rotor from its last stressed vowel (/oʊtəɹ/):
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 rotor
- rotors plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does rotor mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump.
- 2
In a disc brake, the metal disc attached to the wheel hub.
- 3
The wing of a helicopter or other rotary wing aircraft (e.g., heli-type drone).
- 4
A type of powerful horizontal-axis atmospheric vortex generated by the interaction of strong winds with mountainous terrain.
- 5
A quantity having magnitude, direction, and position.
- 6
The set of cells within an oscillator that switch between being alive and dead over the course of the oscillator's period.
- 7
An amusement park and carnival ride consisting of a rotating cylindrical chamber in which centrifugal force adheres riders to the wall as the floor drops away, creating a sensation of defying gravity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Rotor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 rotor come from?
From an irregular clipping of rotator, originally in mathematics, coined by English mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford based on vector, see quotations. Doublet of rota and ruote.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).