syllabus
syl·la·bus/ˈsɪləbəs/noun
syllabus is spelled S-Y-L-L-A-B-U-S: 8 letters and 3 syllables (syl·la·bus). It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, syllabus means “A summary of topics which will be covered during an academic course, or a text or lecture” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of syllabus is syllabi or syllabuses.
How many letters and syllables are in syllabus?
| Letters | 8: S-Y-L-L-A-B-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: syl·la·bus |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th 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 syllabus?
Syllabus appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th 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 syllabus?
- US /ˈsɪləbəs/
Syllabus has 3 syllables, split syl·la·bus in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-syllabus.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of syllabus
- syllabi plural
- syllabuses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does syllabus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A summary of topics which will be covered during an academic course, or a text or lecture.
- 2
The headnote of a reported case; the brief statement of the points of law determined prefixed to a reported case.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Syllabus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense summary of topics:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | programme, syllabus, plan de cours, sommaire |
| German | Lehrplan, Studienprogramm, Lehrprogramm, Syllabus |
| Portuguese | programa, ementa |
| Spanish | temario, syllabus, plan docente, sílabo, balotario |
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 syllabus come from?
Borrowed from Medieval Latin syllabus (“list”), which arose from accusative plural syllabōs appearing as a corruption of sittybās (accusative plural of sittyba, from Ancient Greek σιττύβα (sittúba, “parchment label; table of contents”)) in a 1470s edition of Cicero's “Ad Atticum” IV.5 and 8, influenced by the stem of Ancient Greek συλλαμβάνω (sullambánō, “to put together”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).