surplice
sur·plice/ˈsɝplɪs/noun
surplice is spelled S-U-R-P-L-I-C-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables (sur·plice). It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 110,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, surplice means “A liturgical vestment of the Christian Church in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton material, with wide or moderately wide sleeves…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of surplice is surplices.
How many letters and syllables are in surplice?
| Letters | 8: S-U-R-P-L-I-C-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: sur·plice |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 110,368th 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 surplice?
Surplice appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 110,368th 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 surplice?
- US /ˈsɝplɪs/
- US /ˈsɝpləs/
- UK /ˈsɜːplɪs/
Surplice has 2 syllables, split sur·plice in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-surplice.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of surplice
- surplices plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does surplice mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A liturgical vestment of the Christian Church in the form of a tunic of white linen or cotton material, with wide or moderately wide sleeves, reaching to the hips or knees, usually featuring lace decoration and embroidered bordures.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Surplice in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense liturgical vestment:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | surplis |
| German | Chorhemd, Chorrock, Superpelliceum |
| Portuguese | sobrepeliz |
| Spanish | sobrepelliz |
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 surplice come from?
Inherited from Middle English surplys, from Old French surpeliz, from Medieval Latin superpelliceum, from Latin super (“over”) and pellis (“fur”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).