wingspan
/ˈwɪŋ.spæn/noun
wingspan is spelled W-I-N-G-S-P-A-N: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, wingspan means “The distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip (of a bird, airplane etc.)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wingspan is wingspans.
How many letters and syllables are in wingspan?
| Letters | 8: W-I-N-G-S-P-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,565th 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 wingspan?
Wingspan appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,565th 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 wingspan?
- /ˈwɪŋ.spæn/
Wingspan 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-wingspan.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of wingspan
- wingspans plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wingspan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip (of a bird, airplane etc.).
The wandering albatross has the largest wingspan of any living bird.
- 2
Synonym of arm span.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wingspan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the distance from left wingtip to right:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | envergure |
| German | Flügelspannweite, Spannweite |
| Portuguese | envergadura |
| Spanish | envergadura |
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 wingspan come from?
From wing + span.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).