spinel
/spɪˈnɛl/noun
spinel is spelled S-P-I-N-E-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,913th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spinel means “Any of several hard minerals of cubic symmetry that are mixed oxides of magnesium and aluminium and are used as gemstones of various colours” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spinel is spinels.
How many letters and syllables are in spinel?
| Letters | 6: S-P-I-N-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 65,913th 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; 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 spinel?
Spinel appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,913th 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 spinel?
- UK /spɪˈnɛl/
- UK /ˈspɪn.əl/
Spinel has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-spinel.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with spinel?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as spinel from its last stressed vowel (/ɛl/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: spline.
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 spinel
- spinels plural
- spinelle
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spinel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of several hard minerals of cubic symmetry that are mixed oxides of magnesium and aluminium and are used as gemstones of various colours.
- 2
Any crystalline material, not necessarily an oxide, that possesses the same crystal structure as this mineral.
- 3
obsoleteSpindle; the amount of yarn that fits on a spindle.
[…] raised the price of that staple of yarn (of one Spinel in the pound weight) from 23d. to 26d. per Spinel.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Spinel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense any of several hard minerals of cubic symmetry that are mixed oxides of magnesiu:
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 spinel come from?
French spinelle, perhaps from Latin spina (“a thorn, a prickle”), in allusion to its pointed crystals.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).