scintilla
/sɪnˈtɪlə/noun
scintilla is spelled S-C-I-N-T-I-L-L-A: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 88,353rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, scintilla means “A small spark or flash” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of scintilla is scintillae or scintillas.
How many letters and syllables are in scintilla?
| Letters | 9: S-C-I-N-T-I-L-L-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 88,353rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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 scintilla?
Scintilla appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 88,353rd 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 scintilla?
- US /sɪnˈtɪlə/
Scintilla 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-scintilla.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with scintilla?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as scintilla from its last stressed vowel (/ɪlə/):
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 scintilla
- scintillae plural
- scintillas plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does scintilla mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small spark or flash.
- 2
A small or trace amount.
a scintilla of hope
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Scintilla 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 scintilla come from?
Existing in English since the 17th century; borrowed from Latin scintilla (“spark”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).