shingle
/ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/noun, verb
shingle is spelled S-H-I-N-G-L-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, shingle means “A small, thin piece of building material, often with one end thicker than the other, for laying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of shingle is shingles.
How many letters and syllables are in shingle?
| Letters | 7: S-H-I-N-G-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 29,649th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| 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 shingle?
Shingle appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 29,649th 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 shingle?
- US /ˈʃɪŋ.ɡəl/
Shingle 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-shingle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with shingle?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as shingle from its last stressed vowel (/ɪŋɡəl/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: english.
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 shingle
- shingles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- shindle
- shingling participle, present
- shingled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does shingle mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small, thin piece of building material, often with one end thicker than the other, for laying in overlapping rows as a covering for the roof or sides of a building.
- 2
A rectangular piece of steel obtained by means of a shingling process involving hammering of puddled steel.
- 3
A small signboard designating a professional office; this may be both a physical signboard or a metaphoric term for a small production company (a production shingle).
When [these attorneys] were born, in the early decades of the 19th century, being a lawyer meant putting out a shingle and representing your neighbors.
- 4
A word-based n-gram.
- 5
A punitive strap such as a belt.
- 6
Any paddle used for corporal punishment.
- 7
Small, smooth pebbles, as found on a beach.
- 8
A beach or other shore covered with loose, smooth pebbles.
verb
- 1
To cover with small, thin pieces of building material, with shingles.
- 2
To cut, as hair, so that the ends are evenly exposed all over the head, like shingles on a roof.
- 3
To increase the storage density of (a hard disk) by writing tracks that partially overlap.
- 4
To hammer and squeeze material in order to expel cinder and impurities from it, as in metallurgy.
- 5
To beat with a shingle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Shingle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bardeau , barder , galets |
| German | Schindel , mit Schindeln decken , Kiesel, Kieselstein , Firmenschild |
| Portuguese | telha , telhar, entelhar |
| Spanish | tablilla , techar , guijarro |
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 shingle come from?
From Middle English shyngel, alteration of Old English sċindel, from Proto-West Germanic *skindulā, borrowed from Late Latin scindula, from Latin scandula, from Proto-Indo-European *sked- (“to split, scatter”), from *sek- (“to cut”). Doublet of shindle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).