watercress
/ˈwɔtəɹkɹɛs/noun
watercress is spelled W-A-T-E-R-C-R-E-S-S: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 53,573rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, watercress means “A perennial European herb, Nasturtium officinale, that grows in freshwater streams; used in salads and as a garnish” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of watercress is watercresses.
How many letters and syllables are in watercress?
| Letters | 10: W-A-T-E-R-C-R-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 53,573rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is watercress?
Watercress appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 53,573rd 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 watercress?
- UK /ˈwɔːtəkɹɛs/
- US /ˈwɔtəɹkɹɛs/
Watercress has 3 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-watercress.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of watercress
- watercresses plural
- water-cress
- water cress
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does watercress mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A perennial European herb, Nasturtium officinale, that grows in freshwater streams; used in salads and as a garnish.
- 2
A similar plant, Nasturtium microphyllum.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Watercress in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cresson de fontaine |
| German | Brunnenkresse, Echte Brunnenkresse, Wasserkresse , Bastard-Brunnenkresse |
| Portuguese | agrião |
| Spanish | berro , cresón, berro de agua |
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 watercress come from?
From Middle English water cresse, water-kresse, watercrasse, water cars, equivalent to water + cress. Cognate with West Frisian wetterkers (“watercress”), Dutch waterkers (“watercress”), German Wasserkresse (“waterkress”), Swedish vattenkrasse (“watercress”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).