Calais

/[kaˈlɛː]/ noun

Letters

6 characters

Frequency Rank

#24,278

in German word usage

Misspellings

8

tracked variants

Confusables

9

similar word pairs

Calais is aGermannoun. It means: nordfranzösische Stadt am Ärmelkanal Pronounced [kaˈlɛː]. Often confused with Cali and Claus.

Key facts for Calais
PropertyValue
HeadwordCalais
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[kaˈlɛː]
Letters6
Frequency rank#24,278
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of Calais in German word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for Calais is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [kaˈlɛː]. Corpus data places it at rank #24,278 in overall German word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "nordfranzösische Stadt am Ärmelkanal".

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for Calais, with forms such as "aclais", "caalis", and "calaiss". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "Cali", "Claus", "class", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct German form is Calais, spelled C-A-L-A-I-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    nordfranzösische Stadt am Ärmelkanal

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: aclais,caalis,calaiss,calasi,calias,callais,ccalais,claais

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for Calais

Misspelling Variants of "Calais"

aclais6caalis6calaiss7calasi6calias6callais7ccalais7claais6
Misspelling Variants of "Calais"

Frequency rank: #24,278 in German

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Calais"?
"Calais" is spelled C-A-L-A-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is [kaˈlɛː].
What does "Calais" mean?
As a noun, "Calais" means: nordfranzösische Stadt am Ärmelkanal
What words are commonly confused with "Calais"?
"Calais" is commonly confused with "Cali", "Claus", "class". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Calais"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Calais" is [kaˈlɛː]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Calais" come from?
"Calais" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby German words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our German index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.