trauma
trau·ma/ˈtɹɔm.ə/noun
trauma is spelled T-R-A-U-M-A: 6 letters and 2 syllables (trau·ma). It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, trauma means “Any injury to the body of a living thing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of trauma is traumas or traumata.
How many letters and syllables are in trauma?
| Letters | 6: T-R-A-U-M-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: trau·ma |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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 trauma?
Trauma appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th 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 trauma?
- UK /ˈtɹɔː.mə/
- UK /ˈtɹaʊ.mə/
- US /ˈtɹɔm.ə/
Trauma has 2 syllables, split trau·ma in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-trauma.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Grendelkhan-trauma.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Simplificationalizer-trauma.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with trauma?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as trauma (/ɔmə/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: matura.
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 trauma
- traumas plural
- traumata plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does trauma mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any injury to the body of a living thing.
Near-synonyms: insult (contextually synonymous); see also Thesaurus:injury
- 2
Serious injury, resulting from predation, violence, an accident such as a fall, a vehicle crash, etc.
We're not talking about paper cuts or sprains here – we're talking about trauma.
- 3
An emotional wound leading to psychological injury.
What these patients eventually realized was that they all had trauma that had fed into their addictions.
- 4
An event that causes great distress.
The earthquake here 14 years ago was a national trauma that still affects the economy today.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Trauma in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | traumatisme, trauma |
| German | Trauma |
| Portuguese | traumatismo , trauma |
| Spanish | traumatismo , trauma |
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 trauma come from?
From Ancient Greek τραῦμα (traûma, “wound, damage”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).