syncope
/ˈsɪŋ.kə.pi/
"syncope" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“syncope” is an uncommon English word, ranked #64,755 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #64,755
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The elision or loss of a sound from the interior of a word, especially of a vowel sound with loss of a syllable.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | syncope |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɪŋ.kə.pi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #64,755 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “syncope” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for syncope is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɪŋ.kə.pi/. Corpus data places it at rank #64,755 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
syncope has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Late Latin syncopē, from Ancient Greek συγκοπή (sunkopḗ), from συγκόπτω (sunkóptō, “cut up”) + -η (-ē, nominalization suffix), from σύν (sún, “beside, with”) + κόπτω (kóptō, “strike, cut off”). Partly continues the (near-)doublets syn… The correct English form is syncope, spelled S-Y-N-C-O-P-E.
Definition
- 1The elision or loss of a sound from the interior of a word, especially of a vowel sound with loss of a syllable.
- 2A loss of consciousness when fainting.
- 3A missed beat or off-beat stress in music resulting in syncopation.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Late Latin syncopē, from Ancient Greek συγκοπή (sunkopḗ), from συγκόπτω (sunkóptō, “cut up”) + -η (-ē, nominalization suffix), from σύν (sún, “beside, with”) + κόπτω (kóptō, “strike, cut off”). Partly continues the (near-)doublets syncopis and sincopin, both from the Old French sincopin (“faintness”) (itself from Late Latin accusative syncopen), with the pathological meaning "a loss of consciousness accompanied by a weak pulse", attested from the fifteenth century. Usage in the form syncope, with the phonological meaning "contraction of a word by omission of middle sounds or letters" attested from the 1520s. Syncopis and sincopin were "re-Latinized" to the form syncope in English in the sixteenth century. The musical usage first occurs after the 1660s, following the musical usage of syncopation and syncopate.
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
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Using “syncope”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-Y-N-C-O-P-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɪŋ.kə.pi/ (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
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.