cook

/kʊk/

//kʊk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“cook” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,248 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#2,248
frequency rank, English
4
letters
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who prepares food.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

cook vs cop
50% similar
cook vs cow
50% similar
cook vs cos
50% similar

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

Key facts for cook
PropertyValue
Headwordcook
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kʊk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,248
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cook” 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). cook 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 cook is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kʊk/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,248 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for cook, with forms such as "ccook", "cok", and "coko". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. 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 cook, from Old English cōc (“a cook”), from Latin cocus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- (“to cook, become ripe”). Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian khoch (“cook”), Dutch kok (“cook”), German Koch (“cook”), Luxembourgish Kach (“c… The correct English form is cook, spelled C-O-O-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who prepares food.
  2. 2
    The head cook of a manor house.
  3. 3
    The degree or quality of cookedness of food.
  4. 4
    The member of a hot-rivetting team who heats the rivets in a brazier, see rivet.
  5. 5
    One who manufactures certain illegal drugs, especially meth.
  6. 6
    A session of manufacturing certain illegal drugs, especially meth.
  7. 7
    A fish, the European striped wrasse, Labrus mixtus.
  8. 8
    An unintended solution to a chess problem, considered to spoil the problem.

Etymology

From Middle English cook, from Old English cōc (“a cook”), from Latin cocus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- (“to cook, become ripe”). Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian khoch (“cook”), Dutch kok (“cook”), German Koch (“cook”), Luxembourgish Kach (“cook”), Danish kok (“cook”), Icelandic kokkur (“cook”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk kokk (“cook”), Swedish kock (“cook”). Also compare Proto-West Germanic *kokōn (“to cook”) (whence North Frisian kööge, kööki (“to cook, boil”), West Frisian koaitsje (“to cook”), Cimbrian khochan, khòchan (“to cook”), Dutch koken (“to cook”), German kochen (“to cook”), Limburgish kaoke, kauche (“to cook”), Luxembourgish kachen (“to cook”), Vilamovian kocha, koha (“to cook”), Yiddish קאָכן (kokhn, “to cook”)), from Late Latin cocō (“to cook”).

This word in other languages

cocinero(Español)cuisinier(Français)Koch(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccook,cok,coko,cookk,ocok

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cook - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccook1cok1coko2cookk1ocok2
Edit distance from "cook"

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 "cook"?
"cook" is spelled C-O-O-K. The IPA pronunciation is /kʊk/.
What does "cook" mean?
As a noun, "cook" means: A person who prepares food.
What words are commonly confused with "cook"?
"cook" 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 "cook"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cook" is /kʊk/. 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 "cook"?
From Middle English cook, from Old English cōc (“a cook”), from Latin cocus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pekʷ- (“to cook, become ripe”). Cognates Cognate with Cimbrian khoch (“cook”), Dutch kok (“cook”), German Koch (“cook”), Luxembourgis... 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 “cook”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is C-O-O-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /kʊk/ (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. cook 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