coral
/ˈkɒɹəl/
"coral" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“coral” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,770 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,770
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of many species of marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa, most of which build hard calcium carbonate skeletons and form colonies, or a colony belonging to one of those species.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | coral |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɒɹəl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #8,770 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “coral” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for coral is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɒɹəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,770 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 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for coral, with forms such as "ccoral", "coarl", and "corall". 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, "core", "crap", "corn", 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 Old French coral (French corail), from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”). Probably ultimately of Semitic origin, compare Hebrew גּוֹרָל (goral, “small pebble”), Arabic جَرَل (jaral, “small stone”), originally referring … The correct English form is coral, spelled C-O-R-A-L.
Definition
- 1Any of many species of marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa, most of which build hard calcium carbonate skeletons and form colonies, or a colony belonging to one of those species.
- 2A hard substance made of the skeletons of these organisms.
- 3A somewhat yellowish orange-pink color; the color of red coral (Corallium rubrum) of the Mediterranean Sea, commonly used as an ornament or gem.
- 4The ovaries of a cooked lobster; so called from their color.
- 5A piece of coral, usually fitted with small bells and other appurtenances, used by children as a plaything.
Etymology
From Old French coral (French corail), from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”). Probably ultimately of Semitic origin, compare Hebrew גּוֹרָל (goral, “small pebble”), Arabic جَرَل (jaral, “small stone”), originally referring to the red variety found in the Mediterranean. Since ancient times, a common folk etymology, accepted by some earlier scholars, connected the word instead to Ancient Greek κόρη (kórē) (referring to Medusa). Beekes mentions both theories and considers the Semitic one convincing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccoral,coarl,corall,corla,croal,ocral
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of coral - 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.
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
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Using “coral”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-R-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɒɹəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “core” - see the side-by-side comparison. coral vs core
- 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.