tuberculosis
/tjuːˌbɜːkjʊˈləʊsɪs/noun
tuberculosis is spelled T-U-B-E-R-C-U-L-O-S-I-S: 12 letters and 5 syllables. It appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tuberculosis means “An infectious disease of humans and animals caused by a species of mycobacterium, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mainly infecting the lungs…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tuberculosis is tuberculoses.
How many letters and syllables are in tuberculosis?
| Letters | 12: T-U-B-E-R-C-U-L-O-S-I-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 5 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st 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 and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; 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 tuberculosis?
Tuberculosis appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st 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 tuberculosis?
- UK /tjuːˌbɜːkjʊˈləʊsɪs/
- British /tʃʉwˌbəːkjəˈləwsɪs/
- /tʃʉːˌbeːkjʊˈləʊsɪs/
Tuberculosis has 5 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tuberculosis.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Knabrupt-tuberculosis.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tuberculosis?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tuberculosis from its last stressed vowel (/əʊsɪs/, British pronunciation):
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 tuberculosis
- tuberculoses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tuberculosis mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An infectious disease of humans and animals caused by a species of mycobacterium, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis, mainly infecting the lungs where it causes tubercles characterized by the expectoration of mucus and sputum, fever, weight loss, and chest pain, and transmitted through inhalation or ingestion of bacteria.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate tuberculosis?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of tuberculosis: TB.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tuberculosis in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense infectious disease:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tuberculose |
| German | Tuberkulose |
| Portuguese | tuberculose |
| Spanish | tuberculosis |
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 tuberculosis come from?
To international scientific vocabulary from New Latin tūberculōsis, from Latin tūberculum (diminutive of tūber (“lump”)) + Latin -ōsis (“diseased condition”); by surface analysis, tubercul(um) + -osis; named for the encapsulated colonies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis within the lungs in pulmonary tuberculosis, which can look like small tubers (tubercles) on gross pathology.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).