tiger
/ˈtaɪɡɚ/noun
tiger is spelled T-I-G-E-R: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tiger means “Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tiger is tigers.
How many letters and syllables are in tiger?
| Letters | 5: T-I-G-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 20 times per million words; the 4,302nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tiger?
Tiger appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd 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 tiger?
- UK /ˈtaɪɡə/
- US /ˈtaɪɡɚ/
- [ˈtʌɪɡɚ]
Tiger 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: En-us-tiger.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with tiger
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: taiga (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with tiger?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tiger from its last stressed vowel (/aɪɡəɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tiger
- tigers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tiger mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Panthera tigris, a large predatory mammal of the cat family, indigenous to Asia.
- 2
A male tiger; as opposed to a tigress.
Coordinate term: tigress
- 3
A sabre-toothed tiger (any felid in the subfamily †Machairodontinae).
- 4
A Tasmanian tiger, †Thylacinus cynocephalus
- 5
obsoleteA jaguar.
- 6
A tiger moth in the family Arctiidae.
- 7
A tiger beetle.
- 8
Any of the three Australian species of black-and-yellow striped dragonflies of the genus Ictinogomphus.
- 9
A final shouted phrase, accompanied by a jump or outstretched arms, at the end of a cheer.
noun
- 1
Someone connected with Hull City Football Club, as a fan, player, coach etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tiger in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense The mammal Panthera tigris:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tigre, tigresse |
| German | Tiger, Tigerin, Tigermännchen, Tigerweibchen |
| Portuguese | tigre |
| Spanish | tigre |
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 tiger come from?
From Middle English tygre, in part from Old English tigras (pl.), in part from Anglo-Norman tigre, both from Latin tigris, from Ancient Greek τίγρις (tígris), from Iranian (compare Avestan 𐬙𐬌𐬔𐬭𐬌 (tigri, “arrow”), 𐬙𐬌𐬖𐬭𐬀 (tiγra, “pointed”)). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to pierce, prick, be sharp”). Compare English stick.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).