sylph
/sɪlf/noun
sylph is spelled S-Y-L-P-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 97,057th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, sylph means “An invisible being of the air” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of sylph is sylphs.
How many letters and syllables are in sylph?
| Letters | 5: S-Y-L-P-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 10 million words; the 97,057th 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 sylph?
Sylph appears about once in every 10 million words in written English, the 97,057th 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 sylph?
- /sɪlf/
Sylph has one syllable (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: En-us-sylph.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of sylph
- sylphs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does sylph mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An invisible being of the air.
- 2
The elemental being of air, usually female.
- 3
A slender woman or girl, usually graceful and sometimes with the implication of sublime station over everyday people.
- 4
Any of the mainly dark green and blue hummingbirds (genus Aglaiocercus), the male of which has a long forked tail.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Sylph in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sylphe, sylphide |
| German | Sylphe, Luftgeist , Sylphide |
| Portuguese | silfo, sílfide |
| Spanish | sílfide |
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 sylph come from?
First attested in 1657. From New Latin sylphes, coined by Paracelsus in the 16th century. The coinage may derive from Latin sylvestris (“of the woods”) and nympha (“nymph”). Ultimately from the root silva (“woods, forest”). Related to sylvan. More at Wikipedia.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).