Sumatra
/suːˈmɑːtɹə/noun
Sumatra is spelled S-U-M-A-T-R-A: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, Sumatra means “A squall or violent rainstorm coming from the south” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of Sumatra is Sumatras.
How many letters and syllables are in Sumatra?
| Letters | 7: S-U-M-A-T-R-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.1 times per million words; the 27,820th 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 Sumatra?
Sumatra appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th 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 Sumatra?
- /suːˈmɑːtɹə/
Sumatra has 3 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-Sumatra.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of Sumatra
- Sumatras plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does Sumatra mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A squall or violent rainstorm coming from the south.
- 2
A chicken of a breed native to the island of Sumatra, formerly used in cock-fighting and now mainly kept for exhibition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does Sumatra come from?
From Portuguese Sumatra, from Arabic سُومَطْرَة (sūmaṭra), from Malay Sumatera, from Sanskrit समुद्र (samudra, “sea”). Mentioned in the 11th century in Sanskrit as समुद्रभूमि (samudrabhūmi, “land of Sumatra”), gradually replacing the earlier सुवर्णद्वीप (suvarṇadvīpa).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).