Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pangolin

/ˈpæŋɡəlɪn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.36 in modern English

Syllables: pan-golin
IPA: /ˈpæŋɡəlɪn/

11

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of several long-tailed, scale-covered mammals of the family Manidae within the order Pholidota of tropical Africa and Asia.

Example Sentences

"Like many Sri Lankans, pangolins have big tongues, thick hides and small brains. They pick on ants, rats and anything smaller than them. They hide in terror when faced with bullies and get up to mischief when the lights are out. They are hundreds of thousands of years old and are plodding towards extinction."

Etymology

Borrowed from Malay pengguling, from peng- (“denominative prefix”) + guling (“to roll”).

Word Breakdown

Prefix: peng
Root: pengguling

Inflected Forms

pangolins (plural)

Derived Forms

pangopup

Phrases

Chinese pangolin giant pangolin ground pangolin Indian pangolin long-tailed pangolin Philippine pangolin sea pangolin Sunda pangolin

Synonyms

manid scaly anteater trenggiling anteater

Questions

How do you pronounce pangolin?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpæŋɡəlɪn/.
What does pangolin mean?: Any of several long-tailed, scale-covered mammals of the family Manidae within the order Pholidota of tropical Africa and Asia.
Where does pangolin come from?: Borrowed from Malay pengguling, from peng- (“denominative prefix”) + guling (“to roll”).

How to pronounce pangolin

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “pangolin”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈpæŋɡəlɪn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “pangolin”.
Repeat and practice — Say “pangolin” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.