transistor
tran·sis·tor/tɹænˈzɪs.tɚ/noun
transistor is spelled T-R-A-N-S-I-S-T-O-R: 10 letters and 3 syllables (tran·sis·tor). It appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, transistor means “A solid-state semiconductor device, with three terminals, which can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of transistor is transistors.
How many letters and syllables are in transistor?
| Letters | 10: T-R-A-N-S-I-S-T-O-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: tran·sis·tor |
| In writing | 1.6 times per million words; the 22,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is transistor?
Transistor appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd 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 transistor?
- US /tɹænˈzɪs.tɚ/
Transistor has 3 syllables, split tran·sis·tor in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-transistor.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with transistor?
6 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as transistor from its last stressed vowel (/ɪstəɹ/):
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 transistor
- transistors plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does transistor mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A solid-state semiconductor device, with three terminals, which can be used for amplification, switching, voltage stabilization, signal modulation, and many other functions.
- 2
datedinformalA transistor radio.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Transistor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense solid-state semiconductor device, with three terminals:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | transistor |
| German | Transistor |
| Portuguese | transístor |
| Spanish | transistor |
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 transistor come from?
Blend of transfer + resistor. Said to have been coined by American engineer John Robinson Pierce in 1947, who used transresistance as the basis for forming transistor.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).