coconut
co·co·nut/ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/noun
coconut is spelled C-O-C-O-N-U-T: 7 letters and 3 syllables (co·co·nut). It appears 7.6 times per million words in written English, the 8,542nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, coconut means “A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of coconut is coconuts.
How many letters and syllables are in coconut?
| Letters | 7: C-O-C-O-N-U-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: co·co·nut |
| In writing | 7.6 times per million words; the 8,542nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is coconut?
Coconut appears 7.6 times per million words in written English, the 8,542nd 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 coconut?
- UK /ˈkəʊ.kə.nʌt/
- UK [ˈkʰəʊ̯.kə.nʌt]
- UK [ˈkʰəʊ̯.kə.nɐt]
Coconut has 3 syllables, split co·co·nut in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-coconut.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of coconut
- coconuts plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does coconut mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A fruit of the coconut palm (not a true nut), Cocos nucifera, having a fibrous husk surrounding a large seed.
- 2
A hard-shelled seed of this fruit, having white flesh and a fluid-filled central cavity.
- 3
The edible white flesh of this fruit.
- 4
The coconut palm.
- 5
USderogatoryA Hispanic or other dark-skinned person considered to have overly assimilated to white culture.
- 6
AustraliaderogatoryA black person considered to have overly assimilated to white culture, a black race traitor.
- 7
derogatoryA Malay person who cannot speak Malay.
- 8
derogatoryAn Indian person who cannot speak Tamil.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Coconut in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense fruit of coco palm:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | noix de coco |
| German | Kokosnuss |
| Portuguese | coco |
| Spanish | coco, laña |
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 coconut come from?
From coco + nut. In reference to assimilated Hispanic or black people, derived from the fruit's exotic origins. The slur originates from the idea that one is "brown on the outside, white on the inside". In reference to Polynesians, from the ubiquity of coconut palms in the area.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).