cone

/ˈkəʊn/

//ˈkəʊn// noun

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

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

The verdict

“cone” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,153 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#9,153
frequency rank, English
4
letters
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surface of revolution formed by rotating a segment of a line around another line that intersects the first line.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

cone vs cop
50% similar
cone vs cow
50% similar
cone vs cos
50% similar

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

Key facts for cone
PropertyValue
Headwordcone
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkəʊn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#9,153
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cone” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for cone is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkəʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,153 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for cone, with forms such as "ccone", "cnoe", and "coen". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cop", "cow", "cos", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cone (“corner, angle”) and conoun (“cone”), from Medieval Latin cōnus, cōnon (“cone, wedge, peak”), from Ancient Greek κῶνος (kônos, “cone, spinning top, pine cone”). Reinforced by Middle French cone, from the same Graeco-Latin source. The correct English form is cone, spelled C-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A surface of revolution formed by rotating a segment of a line around another line that intersects the first line.
  2. 2
    A solid of revolution formed by rotating a triangle around one of its altitudes.
  3. 3
    A space formed by taking the direct product of a given space with a closed interval and identifying all of one end to a point.
  4. 4
    Anything in the general shape of a cone.
  5. 5
    Anything in the general shape of a cone.
  6. 6
    Anything in the general shape of a cone.
  7. 7
    Anything in the general shape of a cone.
  8. 8
    Anything in the general shape of a cone.
  9. 9
    Anything in the general shape of a cone.
  10. 10
    Anything in the general shape of a cone.
  11. 11
    Anything in the general shape of a cone.
  12. 12
    Any of the small cone-shaped structures in the retina.
  13. 13
    The bowl piece on a bong.
  14. 14
    The bowl piece on a bong.
  15. 15
    An object V together with an arrow going from V to each object of a diagram such that for any arrow A in the diagram, the pair of arrows from V which subtend A also commute with it. (Then V can be said to be the cone’s vertex and the diagram which the cone subtends can be said to be its base.)
  16. 16
    A set of formal languages with certain desirable closure properties, in particular those of the regular languages, the context-free languages and the recursively enumerable languages.

Etymology

From Middle English cone (“corner, angle”) and conoun (“cone”), from Medieval Latin cōnus, cōnon (“cone, wedge, peak”), from Ancient Greek κῶνος (kônos, “cone, spinning top, pine cone”). Reinforced by Middle French cone, from the same Graeco-Latin source.

Synonyms

conical surfacecornetice cream cone

This word in other languages

cono(Español)cône(Français)Kegel(Deutsch)cone(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccone,cnoe,coen,conne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cone - 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.

ccone1cnoe2coen2conne1
Edit distance from "cone"

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 "cone"?
"cone" is spelled C-O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkəʊn/.
What does "cone" mean?
As a noun, "cone" means: A surface of revolution formed by rotating a segment of a line around another line that intersects the first line.
What words are commonly confused with "cone"?
"cone" is commonly confused with "cop", "cow", "cos". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cone"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cone" is /ˈkəʊn/. 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 "cone"?
From Middle English cone (“corner, angle”) and conoun (“cone”), from Medieval Latin cōnus, cōnon (“cone, wedge, peak”), from Ancient Greek κῶνος (kônos, “cone, spinning top, pine cone”). Reinforced by Middle French cone, from the same Graeco-Latin... 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 “cone”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈkəʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “cop” - see the side-by-side comparison. cone vs cop
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list