coitus interruptus

noun

"coitus-interruptus" is a 17-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“coitus interruptus” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
18
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sexual intercourse interrupted by withdrawal of the penis before ejaculation.

Key facts for coitus interruptus
PropertyValue
Headwordcoitus interruptus
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters18
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “coitus interruptus” sits in English frequency

coitus interruptus falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

coitus interruptus is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Sexual intercourse interrupted by withdrawal of the penis before ejaculation.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for coitus interruptus in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin coitus (“sexual intercourse”) + interruptus (“interrupted, cut short”), the perfect passive participle of interrumpo (“to interrupt, to cut short”). The correct English form is coitus interruptus, spelled C-O-I-T-U-S- -I-N-T-E-R-R-U-P-T-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sexual intercourse interrupted by withdrawal of the penis before ejaculation.

Etymology

From Latin coitus (“sexual intercourse”) + interruptus (“interrupted, cut short”), the perfect passive participle of interrumpo (“to interrupt, to cut short”).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "coitus interruptus"?
"coitus interruptus" is spelled C-O-I-T-U-S- -I-N-T-E-R-R-U-P-T-U-S.
What does "coitus interruptus" mean?
As a noun, "coitus interruptus" means: Sexual intercourse interrupted by withdrawal of the penis before ejaculation.
What is the origin of the word "coitus interruptus"?
From Latin coitus (“sexual intercourse”) + interruptus (“interrupted, cut short”), the perfect passive participle of interrumpo (“to interrupt, to cut short”). 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 “coitus interruptus”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-I-T-U-S- -I-N-T-E-R-R-U-P-T-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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