Counsellor or counselor?
counsellor is a noun meaning “Alternative spelling of counselor”; counselor is a noun meaning “A professional who counsels people, especially on personal problems”. Wiktionary gives them as spellings of the same word. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) counselor is about 3.0 times as common as counsellor.
What is the difference between counsellor and counselor?
| counsellor | counselor | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun | noun |
| Meaning | CanadaUKAlternative spelling of counselor | A professional who counsels people, especially on personal problems A school counselor, often in a specialty such as careers, education, or health |
| Example | none recorded | none recorded |
| Forms | counsellors | counselors |
| Pronunciation | not recorded | /ˈkaʊnsələ(ɹ)/ /ˈkaʊnslə(ɹ)/ |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words | 6.2 times per million words |
Sources: counsellor and counselor in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of counsellor and counselor
counsellor
- 1
CanadaUKAlternative spelling of counselor
counselor
- 1
A professional who counsels people, especially on personal problems
- 2
A school counselor, often in a specialty such as careers, education, or health
- 3
An attorney
- 4
A high ranking diplomat, usually just below an ambassador or minister
- 5
USA children’s supervisor, usually at camp
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, counsellor or counselor?
counsellor appears 2.1 times per million words; counselor 6.2 times per million words.
counsellor 2.1 times per million wordscounselor 6.2 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).