woodlouse
/ˈwʊdˌlaʊs/noun
woodlouse is spelled W-O-O-D-L-O-U-S-E: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 165,739th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, woodlouse means “Any of various small terrestrial isopod crustaceans of suborder Oniscidea, having a rigid segmented exoskeleton, usually feeding on dead plant matter…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of woodlouse is woodlice.
How many letters and syllables are in woodlouse?
| Letters | 9: W-O-O-D-L-O-U-S-E |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 30 million words; the 165,739th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is woodlouse?
Woodlouse appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 165,739th 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 woodlouse?
- /ˈwʊdˌlaʊs/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-woodlouse.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of woodlouse
- woodlice plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does woodlouse mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of various small terrestrial isopod crustaceans of suborder Oniscidea, having a rigid segmented exoskeleton, usually feeding on dead plant matter and living in damp, dark places, such as under stones or bark. Several common species roll into a ball when disturbed, hence names such as pill bug and roly-poly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Woodlouse in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense small land crustacean of suborder Oniscidea:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | cloporte, cochon de saint Antoine |
| German | Kellerassel, Assel, Landassel |
| Portuguese | bicho-de-conta, tatuzinho, tatuzinho-de-jardim, tatu-de-jardim, porca-sara |
| Spanish | cochinilla, cochinilla de humedad, chanchito, chanchito de tierra, bicho bolita, bichobolita |
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 woodlouse come from?
From wood + louse.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).