sassafras
/ˈsasəfɹas/noun
sassafras is spelled S-A-S-S-A-F-R-A-S: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sassafras means “A tree of species Sassafras albidum of the eastern United States and Asia having mitten-shaped leaves and red, aromatic heartwood” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sassafras is sassafrases.
How many letters and syllables are in sassafras?
| Letters | 9: S-A-S-S-A-F-R-A-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 65,114th 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 sassafras?
Sassafras appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th 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 sassafras?
- UK /ˈsasəfɹas/
Sassafras 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-sassafras.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sassafras
- sassafrases plural
- saxefras
- sassafrass
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sassafras mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A tree of species Sassafras albidum of the eastern United States and Asia having mitten-shaped leaves and red, aromatic heartwood.
- 2
A tree of any species in the genus Sassafras.
- 3
The bark of the root of this plant, used for medicinal and (mostly historically) culinary purposes and formerly a main ingredient in root beer.
- 4
AustraliaAny of various trees of the family Atherospermataceae, having aromatic bark.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sassafras in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Sassafras, Sassafrasbaum, Fenchelholzbaum, Nelkenzimtbaum , Sassafrasrinde |
| Spanish | sasafrás |
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 sassafras come from?
From Spanish sasafrás, possibly from Latin saxifragus (“stone-breaking”) from the habit of certain plants growing in cracks in boulders. If this etymology is correct, it is a doublet of saxifrage.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).