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coda

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "coda", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "coda" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "coda" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

coda is aEnglishnoun. It means: A passage that brings a movement or piece to a conclusion through prolongation. Pronounced /ˈkəʊ.də/. Often confused with cop and con.

Key facts for coda
PropertyValue
Headwordcoda
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkəʊ.də/
Letters4
Frequency rank#39,740
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of coda in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for coda is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkəʊ.də/. Corpus data places it at rank #39,740 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for coda, with forms such as "ccoda", "cdoa", and "coad". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cop", "con", "cow", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Italian coda (literally “tail”), from Latin cauda. Doublet of queue and cola. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is coda, spelled C-O-D-A, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A passage that brings a movement or piece to a conclusion through prolongation.
  2. 2
    The optional final sound of a syllable or word, occurring after its nucleus and usually composed of one or more consonants.
  3. 3
    In seismograms, the gradual return to baseline after a seismic event. The length of the coda can be used to estimate event magnitude, and the shape sometimes reveals details of subsurface structures.
  4. 4
    A conclusion (of a statement or event, for example), final portion, tail end.
  5. 5
    A series of clicks used by sperm whales for communicating with each other.

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian coda (literally “tail”), from Latin cauda. Doublet of queue and cola.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccoda,cdoa,coad,codda,ocda

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for coda

Misspelling Variants of "coda"

ccoda5cdoa4coad4codda5ocda4
Misspelling Variants of "coda"

Frequency rank: #39,740 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "coda"?
"coda" is spelled C-O-D-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkəʊ.də/.
What does "coda" mean?
As a noun, "coda" means: A passage that brings a movement or piece to a conclusion through prolongation.
What words are commonly confused with "coda"?
"coda" is commonly confused with "cop", "con", "cow". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "coda"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "coda" is /ˈkəʊ.də/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "coda"?
Borrowed from Italian coda (literally “tail”), from Latin cauda. Doublet of queue and cola. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.