sepia
/ˈsiːpiə/noun, adjective
sepia is spelled S-E-P-I-A: 5 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,943rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sepia means “A dark brown pigment made from the secretions of the cuttlefish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sepia is sepias.
How many letters and syllables are in sepia?
| Letters | 5: S-E-P-I-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 37,943rd 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 sepia?
Sepia appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 37,943rd 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 sepia?
- /ˈsiːpiə/
Sepia 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-sepia.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with sepia?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as sepia.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: aspie.
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 sepia
- sepias plural
- more sepia comparative
- most sepia superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sepia mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A dark brown pigment made from the secretions of the cuttlefish.
- 2
A dark, slightly reddish, brown colour.
- 3
A sepia-coloured drawing or photograph.
- 4
archaicA cuttlefish.
adjective
- 1
Of a dark reddish-brown colour.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sepia in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense pigment:
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 sepia come from?
Borrowed from Latin sēpia (“cuttlefish”), from Ancient Greek σηπία (sēpía). Cognate with Italian seppia, Portuguese siba, and Spanish sepia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).