Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

penta-

/pɛntə-/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.47 in modern English

Syllables: pen-ta-
IPA: /pɛntə-/

7

Scrabble Score

5

Letters

3

Syllables

5

Unique Chars

Meaning

prefix

Etymology

PIE word *pénkʷe Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe Proto-Hellenic *pénkʷe Ancient Greek πέντε (pénte) Ancient Greek πεντᾰ- (pentă-)lbor. English penta- Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πεντᾰ- (pentă-, “five”), from πέντε (pénte, “five”); ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pénkʷe. Compare Persian پنج, Northern Kurdish pênc, Ossetian фондз (fonʒ), Pashto پنځه (pindzə), Sanskrit पञ्च (páñca). Doublet of five, which was inherited from Proto-Germanic.

Origin

Source language: Proto-Indo-European

Word Breakdown

Root: *pénkʷe

Inflected Forms

pent- (alternative, before vowel)

Frequently Paired Words

pentacle pentagon pentagram pentahedron pentalogy pentameter pentaprism pentasyllabic

Synonyms

quinque- quint-

Questions

How do you pronounce penta-?: The recorded pronunciation is /pɛntə-/.
What does penta- mean?: Five.
Where does penta- come from?: It is traced to Proto-Indo-European.

How to pronounce penta-

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