scalar
/skeɪ.lɚ/adjective, noun
scalar is spelled S-C-A-L-A-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, scalar means “Having magnitude but not direction” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in scalar?
| Letters | 6: S-C-A-L-A-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 31,549th 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 scalar?
Scalar appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 31,549th 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 scalar?
- UK /ˈskeɪ.lə/
- US /skeɪ.lɚ/
- Australia /ˈskæɪ.lə/
Scalar 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-scalar.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-scalar.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with scalar?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as scalar.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rascal, sacral, lascar.
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 scalar
- scalars plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scalar mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having magnitude but not direction.
- 2
Consisting of a single value (e.g. integer or string) rather than multiple values (e.g. array).
- 3
Of, or relating to scale.
- 4
Of or pertaining to a musical scale.
- 5
Relating to particles with a spin (quantum angular momentum) of 0 (known as spin 0).
- 6
Pertaining to the dimension on which something is measured.
noun
- 1
A quantity that has magnitude but not direction.
- 2
An amplifier whose output is a constant multiple of its input.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scalar in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having magnitude:
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 scalar come from?
Borrowed from Latin scālāris, adjectival form from scāla (“a flight of steps, stairs, staircase, ladder, scale”), for *scadla, from scandere (“to climb”); compare scale. The mathematics sense was coined by Irish mathematician and astronomer William Rowan Hamilton in 1846.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).