zoo
/zuː/noun
zoo is spelled Z-O-O: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, zoo means “A park where live animals are exhibited” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of zoo is zoos.
How many letters and syllables are in zoo?
| Letters | 3: Z-O-O |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 14 times per million words; the 5,679th 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 zoo?
Zoo appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,679th 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 zoo?
- /zuː/
- British /zʉw/
Zoo has one syllable (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-zoo.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with zoo?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as zoo from its last stressed vowel (/əʊə/, British pronunciation):
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 zoo
- zoos plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does zoo mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A park where live animals are exhibited.
The London Zoo was built in 1828.
- 2
informalAny place that is wild, crowded, or chaotic.
The shopping center was a zoo the week before Christmas.
- 3
informalA large and varied collection of something.
- 4
USslangThe jungle.
- 5
informalClipping of zoophile.
- 6
informalPornographic material depicting actual animals or bestiality.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Zoo in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | zoo , zoo- |
| German | Zoo, Tiergarten, Tierpark |
| Portuguese | zoológico, jardim zoológico, zoo , zoo- |
| Spanish | zoo, jardín zoo, zoológico , zoo- |
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 zoo come from?
Clipping of zoological garden or zoological park, now the usual form. See zoology.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).