willow
/ˈwɪloʊ/noun, verb
willow is spelled W-I-L-L-O-W: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.9 times per million words in written English, the 11,373rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data, counting Willow, the name). As a noun, willow means “Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of willow is willows.
How many letters and syllables are in willow?
| Letters | 6: W-I-L-L-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.9 times per million words; the 11,373rd 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 willow?
Willow appears 4.9 times per million words in written English, the 11,373rd most frequent word form in the list. The list counts every capitalisation together, so this includes Willow, the name.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce willow?
- UK /ˈwɪl.əʊ/
- US /ˈwɪloʊ/
Willow 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: En-us-willow.ogg, En-au-willow.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with willow
Also written: willy.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with willow?
4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as willow from its last stressed vowel (/ɪloʊ/):
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 willow
- willows plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- willowing participle, present
- willowed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does willow mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of various deciduous trees or shrubs in the genus Salix, in the willow family Salicaceae, found primarily on moist soils in cooler zones in the northern hemisphere.
- 2
The wood of these trees.
- 3
colloquialA cricket bat.
- 4
slangThe baseball bat.
- 5
A rotating spiked drum used to open and clean cotton heads.
verb
- 1
To open and cleanse (cotton, flax, wool, etc.) by means of a willow.
- 2
To form a shape or move in a way similar to the long, slender branches of a willow.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Willow in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense tree:
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 willow come from?
From Middle English wilwe, welew, variant of wilghe, from Old English weliġ, from Proto-West Germanic *wilig, from Proto-Germanic *wiligaz, from Proto-Indo-European *welik- (compare (Arcadian) Ancient Greek ἑλίκη (helíkē), Hittite 𒌑𒂖𒆪 (welku, “grass”)), from *wel- (“twist, turn”). Cognate to West Frisian wylch and more distantly (via Proto-West Germanic *wilgijā) to Dutch wilg and German Wilge.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).