samurai
/ˈsæməˌɹaɪ/noun
samurai is spelled S-A-M-U-R-A-I: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, samurai means “In feudal Japan, a soldier who served a daimyo” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of samurai is samurais.
How many letters and syllables are in samurai?
| Letters | 7: S-A-M-U-R-A-I |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.5 times per million words; the 12,045th 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 samurai?
Samurai appears 4.5 times per million words in written English, the 12,045th 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 samurai?
- UK /ˈsæm(j)ʊɹaɪ/
- US /ˈsæməˌɹaɪ/
- /ˈsɑː.mʊ.ˈɾɑːj/
Samurai 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: En-us-samurai.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of samurai
- samurais plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does samurai mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
In feudal Japan, a soldier who served a daimyo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Samurai in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense feudal Japanese warrior:
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 samurai come from?
Borrowed from Japanese 侍 (samurai).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).