shamrock
/ˈʃæm.ɹɑk/noun
shamrock is spelled S-H-A-M-R-O-C-K: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shamrock means “The trefoil leaf of any small clover, especially Trifolium repens, or such a leaf from a clover-like plant, commonly used as a symbol of Ireland” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shamrock is shamrocks.
How many letters and syllables are in shamrock?
| Letters | 8: S-H-A-M-R-O-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd 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 shamrock?
Shamrock appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd 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 shamrock?
- UK /ˈʃæm.ɹɒk/
- US /ˈʃæm.ɹɑk/
Shamrock 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: En-us-shamrock.ogg, En-au-shamrock.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of shamrock
- shamrocks plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shamrock mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The trefoil leaf of any small clover, especially Trifolium repens, or such a leaf from a clover-like plant, commonly used as a symbol of Ireland.
She wore a shamrock in honor of her Irish ancestry.
- 2
Any of several species of small clover-like plant species, with trefoil leaves, especially Trifolium repens.
The fields were covered with shamrocks.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shamrock in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense trefoil leaf of any clover:
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 shamrock come from?
From Irish seamróg, from Old Irish semróc, diminutive of semar, semair (“clover”), from Proto-Celtic *semarā, *semaris (compare Gaulish uisumaris (“clover”)), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *semh₁r-, *smeh₁r-. Related to Old Norse smári (“clover”) and possibly Georgian სამყურა (samq̇ura, “clover”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).