spinney
noun
spinney is spelled S-P-I-N-N-E-Y: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, spinney means “A small copse or wood, especially one planted as a shelter for game birds” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of spinney is spinneys.
How many letters and syllables are in spinney?
| Letters | 7: S-P-I-N-N-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 95,993rd 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 spinney?
Spinney appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 95,993rd 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 spinney?
- US
Spinney 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)-Neøn-spinney.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of spinney
- spinneys plural
- spinny
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does spinney mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
UKA small copse or wood, especially one planted as a shelter for game birds.
- 2
Synonym of spinnaker.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does spinney come from?
From Middle English spenné, from Middle French espinoye (“thorny thicket”), espinaye, from Latin spīnētum (“thorny thicket”), from Latin spīna (“thorn”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).