talcum
/ˈtælkəm/noun, verb
talcum is spelled T-A-L-C-U-M: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 66,686th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, talcum means “Powdered and perfumed talc for toilet use” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of talcum is talcums.
How many letters and syllables are in talcum?
| Letters | 6: T-A-L-C-U-M |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 66,686th 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 talcum?
Talcum appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 66,686th 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 talcum?
- /ˈtælkəm/
Talcum has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-talcum.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of talcum
- talcums plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- talcuming participle, present
- talcumed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does talcum mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Powdered and perfumed talc for toilet use.
verb
- 1
To perfume with talcum powder.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Talcum in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense powdered and perfumed talc for toilet use:
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 talcum come from?
From talc + -um, from Medieval Latin talcum, from Arabic طَلْق (ṭalq).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).