colostrum

/kəˈlɒstɹəm/

//kəˈlɒstɹəm// noun

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

"colostrum" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“colostrum” is uncommon English (frequency #73,081 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,081
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A form of milk produced by the mammary glands in late pregnancy and the few days after giving birth.

Corpus desk

Index EN-colostrum · colostrum · English

colostrum · rank #73,081 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #73,081
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Collings

Nearest frequency peer: Collings (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “colostrum”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “colostrum” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for colostrum
PropertyValue
Headwordcolostrum
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəˈlɒstɹəm/
Letters9
Frequency rank#73,081
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “colostrum” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).colostrumfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Collings” (#73,080), “comedienne” (#73,082), “cofactor” (#73,079). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “colostrum” is #73,081. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

colostrum is uncommon English at frequency #73,081 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kəˈlɒstɹəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for colostrum, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin colostrum, of uncertain origin. The correct English form is colostrum, spelled C-O-L-O-S-T-R-U-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A form of milk produced by the mammary glands in late pregnancy and the few days after giving birth.
  2. 2
    A mixture of turpentine and egg yolk, formerly used as an emulsion.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how colostrum appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The researchers isolated the antibodies from the cow's colostrum, the first milk produced after birth, which has very high antibody concentrations. They gave these antibodies, extracted from the colostrum, to 10 volunteers and gave another 10 volunteers extracts from colostrum of cows that were not immunized against the traveler's diarrhea bacteria.
  2. This valuable fluid—colostrum—plays a number of important biological roles, including helping improve an infant's immune system. Nevertheless, many humans intuitively perceive colostrum as “sour milk,” which should not be given to infants. Other species do not make this serious mistake.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin colostrum, of uncertain origin.

This word in other languages

calostro(Español)colostrum(Français)Kolostrum(Deutsch)

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 "colostrum"?
"colostrum" is spelled C-O-L-O-S-T-R-U-M. The IPA pronunciation is /kəˈlɒstɹəm/.
What does "colostrum" mean?
As a noun, "colostrum" means: A form of milk produced by the mammary glands in late pregnancy and the few days after giving birth.
How do you pronounce "colostrum"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "colostrum" is /kəˈlɒstɹəm/. 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 "colostrum"?
Borrowed from Latin colostrum, of uncertain origin. 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 "colostrum", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

coruscant#73,088chopstick#73,062chivalric#73,060chickadee#73,057

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list