Susa

/ˈsuːzə/

//ˈsuːzə// name

"susa" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Susa” is uncommon English (frequency #67,871 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,871
frequency rank, English
54,294
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An ancient city, which became the capital of Elam, the Persian Empire, the Seleucid Empire and the Parthian Empire, now known as Shush in modern-day Khuzestan Province, Iran.

Key facts for Susa
PropertyValue
HeadwordSusa
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈsuːzə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#67,871
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “Susa” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). Susa lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Susa is uncommon English at frequency #67,871 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈsuːzə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An ancient city, which became the capital of Elam, the Persian Empire, the Seleucid Empire and the Parthian Empire, now known as Shush in modern-day Khuzestan Province, Iran.".

Susa doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Sūsa, from Ancient Greek Σοῦσα (Soûsa), from Old Persian 𐏂𐎢𐏁𐎠 (çūšā), from Elamite 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗 (šušen). Doublet of Sus and Shush. The correct English form is Susa, spelled S-U-S-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    An ancient city, which became the capital of Elam, the Persian Empire, the Seleucid Empire and the Parthian Empire, now known as Shush in modern-day Khuzestan Province, Iran.

Etymology

From Latin Sūsa, from Ancient Greek Σοῦσα (Soûsa), from Old Persian 𐏂𐎢𐏁𐎠 (çūšā), from Elamite 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗 (šušen). Doublet of Sus and Shush.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Susa"?
"Susa" is spelled S-U-S-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsuːzə/.
What does "Susa" mean?
As a proper noun, "Susa" means: An ancient city, which became the capital of Elam, the Persian Empire, the Seleucid Empire and the Parthian Empire, now known as Shush in modern-day Khuzestan Province, Iran.
How do you pronounce "Susa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Susa" is /ˈsuːzə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "Susa"?
From Latin Sūsa, from Ancient Greek Σοῦσα (Soûsa), from Old Persian 𐏂𐎢𐏁𐎠 (çūšā), from Elamite 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗 (šušen). Doublet of Sus and Shush. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “Susa”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-U-S-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈsuːzə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list