Skip to main content
PlainSpell

callus

/ˈkæləs/noun, verb

callus is spelled C-A-L-L-U-S: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “callous vs callus” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, callus means “A hardened area of the skin (especially on the foot or hand) caused by repeated friction, wear or use” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of callus is calluses; Wiktionary also lists calli (hypercorrect).

How many letters and syllables are in callus?

Letters6: C-A-L-L-U-S
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 3 million words; the 47,633rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is callus?

Callus appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce callus?

  • US /ˈkæləs/

Callus has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-callus.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with callus

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

callous vs callus590 G

Sounds like: callous (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: callous.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with callus?

3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as callus from its last stressed vowel (/æləs/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of callus

  • calluses plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • calli hypercorrect, plural
  • callusing participle, present
  • callused participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does callus mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A hardened area of the skin (especially on the foot or hand) caused by repeated friction, wear or use.

  2. 2

    The material of repair in fractures of bone; a substance exuded at the site of fracture, which is at first soft or cartilaginous in consistency, but is ultimately converted into true bone and unites the fragments into a single piece.

  3. 3

    The new formation over the end of a cutting, before it puts out rootlets.

  4. 4

    In orchids, a fleshy outgrowth from the labellum.

  5. 5

    In grasses, a hardened extension from the base of a floret, which may or may not elongate and is often covered in hairs or bristles.

  6. 6

    A shining area on the frons of many species of Tabanomorpha (horse flies and relatives).

verb

  1. 1

    To form such hardened tissue.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Callus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcal, durillon, calus (hardened part of the skin)
GermanSchwiele, Hornhaut, Kallus (hardened part of the skin), verhornen (to form hardened tissue)
Portuguesecalo (hardened part of the skin), calejar, encalecer (to form hardened tissue)
Spanishcallo, callosidad, dureza, duricia (hardened part of the skin)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does callus come from?

Borrowed from Latin callum (“hard skin”). Displaced Old English wearr.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after callus