trema

/ˈtɹiː.mə/

//ˈtɹiː.mə// noun

"trema" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“trema” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A diacritic consisting of two dots ( ¨ ) placed over a letter, used among other things to indicate umlaut or diaeresis.

Corpus desk

Index EN-trema · trema · English

trema · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for trema
PropertyValue
Headwordtrema
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɹiː.mə/
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “trema” in English

tremafalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

trema is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtɹiː.mə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A diacritic consisting of two dots ( ¨ ) placed over a letter, used among other things to indicate umlaut or diaeresis.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for trema, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek τρῆμα (trêma, “hole”), from τετραίνω (tetraínō, “perforate”), used for the dots on dice, via Dutch trema and French tréma. The correct English form is trema, spelled T-R-E-M-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A diacritic consisting of two dots ( ¨ ) placed over a letter, used among other things to indicate umlaut or diaeresis.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek τρῆμα (trêma, “hole”), from τετραίνω (tetraínō, “perforate”), used for the dots on dice, via Dutch trema and French tréma.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "trema"?
"trema" is spelled T-R-E-M-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɹiː.mə/.
What does "trema" mean?
As a noun, "trema" means: A diacritic consisting of two dots ( ¨ ) placed over a letter, used among other things to indicate umlaut or diaeresis.
How do you pronounce "trema"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "trema" is /ˈtɹiː.mə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "trema"?
From Ancient Greek τρῆμα (trêma, “hole”), from τετραίνω (tetraínō, “perforate”), used for the dots on dice, via Dutch trema and French tréma. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list