sapling
/ˈsæplɪŋ/noun
sapling is spelled S-A-P-L-I-N-G: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sapling means “A young tree, larger than a seedling” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sapling is saplings.
How many letters and syllables are in sapling?
| Letters | 7: S-A-P-L-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,192nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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 sapling?
Sapling appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,192nd 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 sapling?
- /ˈsæplɪŋ/
Sapling 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-sapling.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with sapling?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as sapling.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: lapsing.
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 sapling
- saplings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sapling mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A young tree, larger than a seedling.
- 2
A youngster, especially a male nearing maturity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sapling in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense young tree:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | arbrisseau |
| German | junger Baum, Setzling, Steckling, Schössling, Jungbaum, Fechser |
| Spanish | pimpollo, plantón, virgulto, plantín, arbolito |
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 sapling come from?
From Middle English saplyng, seplyng, sapling, equivalent to sap + -ling.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).