Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

waterfowl

/wˈɔtɚfˌaʊl/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.88 in modern English

Syllables: wa-ter-fowl
IPA: /wˈɔtɚfˌaʊl/

18

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any of the birds, such as ducks, geese and swans, that spend most of their non-flying time on water; especially those of the family Anatidae.

Etymology

From Middle English waterfoul, water-foul, equivalent to water + fowl. Compare Old English dopfugel (“waterfowl, moorhen”, literally “dipping-fowl”).

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: waterfoul

Inflected Forms

waterfowls (plural)

Derived Forms

waterfowler waterfowling

Phrases

game bird

Frequently Paired Words

game bird gamefowl poultry wildfowl landfowl

Synonyms

water bird waterbird

Questions

How do you pronounce waterfowl?: The recorded pronunciation is /wˈɔtɚfˌaʊl/.
What does waterfowl mean?: Any of the birds, such as ducks, geese and swans, that spend most of their non-flying time on water; especially those of the family Anatidae.
Where does waterfowl come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce waterfowl

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