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wattle

/ˈwɑtl̩/noun, verb

wattle is spelled W-A-T-T-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wattle means “A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wattle is wattles.

How many letters and syllables are in wattle?

Letters6: W-A-T-T-L-E
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone 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 wattle?

Wattle appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th 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 wattle?

  • UK /ˈwɒtl̩/
  • US /ˈwɑtl̩/
  • US [ˈwɑ.ɾl̩]

Wattle has 2 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-wattle.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of wattle

  • wattles plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • wattling participle, present
  • wattled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does wattle mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.

  2. 2

    A single twig or rod laid on a roof to support the thatch.

  3. 3

    A wrinkled fold of skin, sometimes brightly coloured, hanging from the neck of birds (such as chicken and turkey) and some lizards.

  4. 4

    A barbel of a fish.

  5. 5

    A decorative fleshy appendage on the neck of a goat.

  6. 6

    Loose hanging skin in the neck of a person.

  7. 7

    Any of several Australian trees and shrubs of the genus Acacia, or their bark, used in tanning, seen as a national emblem of Australia.

  8. 8

    obsoleteslangAn ear (organ of hearing).

verb

  1. 1

    To construct a wattle, or make a construction of wattles.

  2. 2

    To bind with wattles or twigs.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Wattle in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchclayonnage (construction of branches and twigs), barbillon (fold of skin hanging from the neck of birds), pampille (fleshy appendage on the neck of goat), mimosa, acacia (Australian acacia)
GermanFlechtwerk (construction of branches and twigs), Kehllappen (fold of skin hanging from the neck of birds), Glöckchen, Berlocke (fleshy appendage on the neck of goat), Gold-Akazie (Australian acacia)
Portuguesepau a pique, taipa (construction of branches and twigs), barbela, papilha (fold of skin hanging from the neck of birds), papo (loose hanging skin)
Spanishzarzo (construction of branches and twigs), barbilla, carúncula, piña (fold of skin hanging from the neck of birds), mamella (fleshy appendage on the neck of goat), papada (loose hanging skin)

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 wattle come from?

From Middle English wattel, watel, from Old English watel, watul (“hurdle”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after wattle