samba
/ˈsɑmbə/noun, verb
samba is spelled S-A-M-B-A: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, samba means “A Brazilian ballroom dance or dance style” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of samba is sambas.
How many letters and syllables are in samba?
| Letters | 5: S-A-M-B-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th 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 samba?
Samba appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th 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 samba?
- US /ˈsɑmbə/
Samba 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-samba.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of samba
- sambas plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- sambaing participle, present
- sambaed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does samba mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A Brazilian ballroom dance or dance style.
- 2
A Brazilian musical genre, to which the aforementioned dance is danced, which has its roots in West Africa via the slave trade.
verb
- 1
To dance the samba.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Samba 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 samba come from?
Borrowed from Brazilian Portuguese samba, from a Bantu language. Doublet of semba.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).