codon
co·don/ˈkoʊ.dɑn/noun
codon is spelled C-O-D-O-N: 5 letters and 2 syllables (co·don). It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,108th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, codon means “A handbell used for summoning monks” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of codon is codons.
How many letters and syllables are in codon?
| Letters | 5: C-O-D-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: co·don |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 56,108th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is codon?
Codon appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 56,108th 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 codon?
- UK /ˈkəʊ.dɒn/
- US /ˈkoʊ.dɑn/
Codon has 2 syllables, split co·don in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-codon.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with codon?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as codon (/oʊdɑn/).
Spelled with the same letters in another order: condo.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of codon
- codons plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does codon mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A handbell used for summoning monks.
- 2
The "bell" or flaring mouth of a trumpet.
- 3
A sequence of three adjacent nucleotides, which encode for a specific amino acid during protein synthesis or translation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Codon in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense sequence of three nucleotides:
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 codon come from?
From Latin codon, from Ancient Greek κώδων (kṓdōn).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).