Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

pilus

/ˈpaɪ̯.ləs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.48 in modern English

Syllables
pi-lus
IPA
/ˈpaɪ̯.ləs/
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A hair.

noun

A hairlike appendage found on the cell surface of many bacteria.

noun

A bacterial protein that has several biochemical functions.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pile.

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈpaɪ̯.ləs/
  • British English: /ˈpaɪ̯.ləs/

Inflected Forms

pili (plural)

Derived Forms

pilin pseudopilus

Frequently Paired Words

flagellum

Synonyms

fimbria hair

Rhymes With

silas stylus eyeless nilus tieless strobilus stilus

Questions

How do you pronounce pilus?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpaɪ̯.ləs/.
What does pilus mean?
A hair.
Where does pilus come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin pilus (“hair”). Doublet of pile.

How to pronounce pilus

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