whitlow
/ˈʍɪt.loʊ/noun
whitlow is spelled W-H-I-T-L-O-W: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 106,501st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, whitlow means “Inflammation and/or infection in the cuticle and/or the nailbed of a fingernail or toenail” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of whitlow is whitlows.
How many letters and syllables are in whitlow?
| Letters | 7: W-H-I-T-L-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 106,501st 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 whitlow?
Whitlow appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 106,501st 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 whitlow?
- US /ˈʍɪt.loʊ/
- US /ˈwɪt.loʊ/
Whitlow 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)-Neøn-whitlow.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of whitlow
- whitlows plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does whitlow mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Inflammation and/or infection in the cuticle and/or the nailbed of a fingernail or toenail.
Near-synonyms: paronychia (in the cuticle), onychia (in the nailbed)
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Whitlow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense infection near or under the cuticle of a fingernail or toenail:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | panaris |
| German | Nagelgeschwür, Panaritium |
| Portuguese | panarício, paroníquia, unheiro |
| Spanish | panadizo |
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 whitlow come from?
From Late Middle English, an alteration of whitflaw, with the first element deriving either from Middle Dutch vijt or Low German fit (“abscess”), borrowed from Latin fīcus (“fig-shaped (ulcer)”), though also influenced by white. The Latin loan also existed in other languages, such as Old English fic (“hemorrhoids”). See flaw.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).