serval
/ˈsɝvəl/noun
serval is spelled S-E-R-V-A-L: 6 letters. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 90,432nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, serval means “A medium-sized African wild cat, Leptailurus serval, formerly Felis serval” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of serval is servals.
How many letters and syllables are in serval?
| Letters | 6: S-E-R-V-A-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 90,432nd 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; 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 serval?
Serval appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 90,432nd 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 serval?
- UK /ˈsɜːvəl/
- US /ˈsɝvəl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-serval.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with serval?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as serval (/ɜɹvəl/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: slaver, salver, versal.
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 serval
- servals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does serval mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A medium-sized African wild cat, Leptailurus serval, formerly Felis serval.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Serval in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense medium-sized African wild cat:
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 serval come from?
From French serval, from Portuguese (lobo) cerval (“Iberian lynx”), from Latin lupus cervārius (literally “stag wolf”), i.e. "wolf that hunts stags", from cervus (“deer, stag”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).