# coast

> English word · Noun · IPA /kəʊst/ · frequency rank #1,420

## Definitions
1. The edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake.
2. The side or edge of something.
3. A region of land; a district or country.
4. A region of the air or heavens.

## Etymology
From Middle English coste (“rib; side of the body, flank; side of a building; face of a solid figure; coast, shore; bay, gulf; sea; concavity, hollow; boundary, limit; land; country; district, province, region; locality, place; division of the heavens; compass direction; direction; location with reference to direction, side”) [and other forms], from Old French coste (“rib; side of an object; coast”) (modern French côte (“rib; coast; hill, slope”)), from Latin costa (“rib; side, wall”). Doublet of costa.
Compare typologically cape < Latin caput, ness (akin to nose), Bulgarian нос (nos, “nose; …; cape, promontory, foreland, gore”), Macedonian ’рт (’rt), Serbo-Croatian рт (“cape, promontory, headland”) < Proto-Slavic *rъtъ (whence Russian рот (rot)).

## Easily confused with
- **cos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cos)
- **cot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cot)
- **CST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cst)
- **cost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cost)
- **cops** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cops)
- **coat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-coat)
- **cows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cows)
- **cons** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cons)
- **colt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-colt)
- **cosy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cosy)
- **cont** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cont)
- **cyst** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-cyst)
- **coax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-coax)
- **coos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-coos)
- **coms** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-coms)
- **court** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-court)
- **costs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-costs)
- **count** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-count)
- **crash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-crash)
- **craft** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coast-vs-craft)

## Common misspellings (6)
`caost`, `ccoast`, `coasst`, `coastt`, `cosat`, `ocast`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/coast