caulk
/kɔːk/
"caulk" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“caulk” is uncommon English (frequency #67,299 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #67,299
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Caulking.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | caulk |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɔːk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #67,299 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “caulk” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
caulk is uncommon English at frequency #67,299 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɔːk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for caulk, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old Northern French cauquer, from Late Latin calicāre (“to fill in with limestone, caulk”), derived from calx (“limestone, chalk”). Related to calx, cauk, chalk, and calculus. The correct English form is caulk, spelled C-A-U-L-K.
Definition
- 1Caulking.
- 2A composition of vehicle and pigment used at ambient temperatures for filling/sealing joints or junctures, that remains elastic for an extended period of time after application.
- 3Alternative form of calk (“pointed projection on a horseshoe”).
- 4A short sleep; a nap.
Etymology
From Old Northern French cauquer, from Late Latin calicāre (“to fill in with limestone, caulk”), derived from calx (“limestone, chalk”). Related to calx, cauk, chalk, and calculus.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “caulk”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-U-L-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɔːk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.