cole

/kəʊl/

//kəʊl// noun

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

"cole" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cole” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,308. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,308
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cabbage.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cole · cole · English

cole · rank #5,308 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,308
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Codes

Nearest frequency peer: Codes (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “cole”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “cole” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cole vs cop
50% similar
cole vs con
50% similar
cole vs cow
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cole
PropertyValue
Headwordcole
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəʊl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#5,308
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cole”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Codes” (#5,307), “collapse” (#5,309), “clue” (#5,306). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cole” is #5,308. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around cole (IPA /kəʊl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,308 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for cole, with forms such as "ccole", "cloe", and "coel". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. 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: From Middle English cole, col, from Old English cawel, an early Germanic borrowing from Latin caulis (“cabbage”). Cognate with Dutch kool, German Kohl, Danish kål, Norwegian Bokmål kål, Norwegian Nynorsk kål, Swedish kål. Doublet of caulis, gobi, and kale. The correct English form is cole, spelled C-O-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Cabbage.
  2. 2
    Brassica; a plant of the Brassica genus, especially those of Brassica oleracea (rape and coleseed).

Etymology

From Middle English cole, col, from Old English cawel, an early Germanic borrowing from Latin caulis (“cabbage”). Cognate with Dutch kool, German Kohl, Danish kål, Norwegian Bokmål kål, Norwegian Nynorsk kål, Swedish kål. Doublet of caulis, gobi, and kale.

This word in other languages

col(Español)choux(Français)couve(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccole
  • cloe
  • coel
  • colle
  • ocle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cole - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ccole1cloe2coel2colle1ocle2
Edit distance from "cole"

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 "cole"?
"cole" is spelled C-O-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kəʊl/.
What does "cole" mean?
As a noun, "cole" means: Cabbage.
What words are commonly confused with "cole"?
"cole" 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 "cole"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cole" is /kəʊl/. 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 "cole"?
From Middle English cole, col, from Old English cawel, an early Germanic borrowing from Latin caulis (“cabbage”). Cognate with Dutch kool, German Kohl, Danish kål, Norwegian Bokmål kål, Norwegian Nynorsk kål, Swedish kål. Doublet of caulis, gobi, ... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cole", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

clue#5,306bits#5,299bias#5,297earl#5,322

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

taxi5 variantsSony5 variantssoap5 variantsacres5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list