cooking

Name: cooking, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈkʊk.ɪŋ/

//ˈkʊk.ɪŋ// noun

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“cooking” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,287 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#3,287
frequency rank, English: 7
letters: 9
tracked misspellings: 19
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The process of preparing food by using heat.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

cooking vs coping

71% similar

cooking vs cooling

86% similar

cooking vs copying

71% similar

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

Key facts for cooking
Property	Value
Headword	cooking
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈkʊk.ɪŋ/
Letters	7
Frequency rank	#3,287
Misspellings tracked	9
Confusable pairs	19
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cooking” 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). cooking lands here:

#3,287

#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 cooking is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkʊk.ɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,287 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cooking, with forms such as "ccooking", "cokoing", and "cooikng". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "coping", "cooling", "copying", 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 cook + -ing. The noun and adjective follow from the verb. The use of the word cooking to describe cheap bitter was popularized by the title character of the BBC sitcom Oh No, It’s Selwyn Froggitt (1974-1978). It refers to cooking sherry, a kind of sher… The correct English form is cooking, spelled C-O-O-K-I-N-G.

Definition

1
The process of preparing food by using heat.
2
An instance of preparing food by using heat.
3
The result of preparing food by using heat.
4
The result of preparing food by using heat.
5
The cheapest available beer for sale in a public house.

Etymology

From cook + -ing. The noun and adjective follow from the verb. The use of the word cooking to describe cheap bitter was popularized by the title character of the BBC sitcom Oh No, It’s Selwyn Froggitt (1974-1978). It refers to cooking sherry, a kind of sherry used in cooking but not suitable for drinking on its own.

Synonyms

culinary art

This word in other languages

cocción(Español)cuisine(Français)Kochen(Deutsch)cozinha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccooking,cokoing,cooikng,cookign,cookingg,cookinng,cookking,cooknig,ocoking

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "cooking"

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 "cooking"?

"cooking" is spelled C-O-O-K-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkʊk.ɪŋ/.

What does "cooking" mean?

As a noun, "cooking" means: The process of preparing food by using heat.

What words are commonly confused with "cooking"?

"cooking" is commonly confused with "coping", "cooling", "copying". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "cooking"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cooking" is /ˈkʊk.ɪŋ/. 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 "cooking"?

From cook + -ing. The noun and adjective follow from the verb. The use of the word cooking to describe cheap bitter was popularized by the title character of the BBC sitcom Oh No, It’s Selwyn Froggitt (1974-1978). It refers to cooking sherry, a ki... 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 “cooking”

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

The one correct English spelling is C-O-O-K-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ˈkʊk.ɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Don't mix it up with “coping” - see the side-by-side comparison. cooking vs coping
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.