stalactite
sta·lac·tite/ˈstælæktaɪt/noun
stalactite is spelled S-T-A-L-A-C-T-I-T-E: 10 letters and 3 syllables (sta·lac·tite). It appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 118,441st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, stalactite means “A secondary mineral deposit of calcium carbonate or another mineral, in shapes similar to icicles, that hangs from the roof of a cave” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of stalactite is stalactites.
How many letters and syllables are in stalactite?
| Letters | 10: S-T-A-L-A-C-T-I-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: sta·lac·tite |
| In writing | about once in every 15 million words; the 118,441st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is stalactite?
Stalactite appears about once in every 15 million words in written English, the 118,441st 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 stalactite?
- UK /ˈstælæktaɪt/
- UK /-lək-/
- UK /stəˈlæktaɪt/
Stalactite has 3 syllables, split sta·lac·tite in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-stalactite.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of stalactite
- stalactites plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does stalactite mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A secondary mineral deposit of calcium carbonate or another mineral, in shapes similar to icicles, that hangs from the roof of a cave.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Stalactite in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense mineral deposit hanging from the roof of a cave:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | stalactite |
| German | Stalaktit |
| Portuguese | estalactite |
| Spanish | estalactita |
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 stalactite come from?
From New Latin stalactītēs, from Ancient Greek σταλακτός (stalaktós, “dripping; dropping”) + Latin -ītēs (suffix with the sense ‘belonging to’ forming adjectives) (modelled after the names of stones ending in -ites).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).