thickness
thick·ness/ˈθɪknəs/noun, verb
thickness is spelled T-H-I-C-K-N-E-S-S: 9 letters and 2 syllables (thick·ness). It appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, thickness means “The property of being thick (in dimension)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of thickness is thicknesses.
How many letters and syllables are in thickness?
| Letters | 9: T-H-I-C-K-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: thick·ness |
| In writing | 5.6 times per million words; the 10,358th 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 thickness?
Thickness appears 5.6 times per million words in written English, the 10,358th 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 thickness?
- /ˈθɪknəs/
Thickness has 2 syllables, split thick·ness in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-thickness.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of thickness
- thicknesses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- thicknessing participle, present
- thicknessed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does thickness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The property of being thick (in dimension).
- 2
A measure of how thick (in dimension) something is.
The thickness of the Earth's crust varies from two to 70 kilometres.
- 3
A layer.
We upholstered the seat with three thicknesses of cloth to make it more comfortable to sit on.
- 4
The quality of being thick (in consistency).
Whip the cream until it reaches a good thickness.
- 5
informalThe property of being thick (slow to understand).
- 6
The minimum number of planar subgraphs which a given graph can decompose into.
verb
- 1
To trim (wood) to a consistent thickness using a thickness planer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Thickness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | épaisseur, grosseur |
| German | Dicke |
| Portuguese | grossura, espessura |
| Spanish | grosor, espesura , torpeza |
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 thickness come from?
From Middle English thikkenesse, thiknesse, from Old English þicnes (“thickness, viscosity, density, hardness; obscurity, cloud, darkness; thicket; depth, a thick body, anything thick or heavy”), from Proto-West Germanic *þikkwīnassī (“thickness”), equivalent to thick + -ness. Cognate with West Frisian tsjokkens (“thickness”), Old High German dickinessī, dikkinissi, diknissi (“thickness, density”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English crassitude (“thickness”) from Latin crassitūdō (“thickness”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).