cockatoo

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cockatoo" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cockatoo” is uncommon English (frequency #51,617 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,617
frequency rank, English
43,570
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A bird of the family Cacatuidae with a curved beak and a zygodactyl foot.

Key facts for cockatoo
PropertyValue
Headwordcockatoo
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#51,617
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cockatoo” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). cockatoo lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cockatoo is uncommon English at frequency #51,617 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for cockatoo in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Dutch kaketoe, borrowed from Malay kakaktua, kakatua. Spelling influenced by cock. The correct English form is cockatoo, spelled C-O-C-K-A-T-O-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    A bird of the family Cacatuidae with a curved beak and a zygodactyl foot.
  2. 2
    A lookout posted during a two-up game, when gambling was illegal.

Etymology

From Dutch kaketoe, borrowed from Malay kakaktua, kakatua. Spelling influenced by cock.

Synonyms

cocky

This word in other languages

cacatúa(Español)cacatoès(Français)Kakadu(Deutsch)

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

How do you spell "cockatoo"?
"cockatoo" is spelled C-O-C-K-A-T-O-O.
What does "cockatoo" mean?
As a noun, "cockatoo" means: A bird of the family Cacatuidae with a curved beak and a zygodactyl foot.
What is the origin of the word "cockatoo"?
From Dutch kaketoe, borrowed from Malay kakaktua, kakatua. Spelling influenced by cock. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Using “cockatoo”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-C-K-A-T-O-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list