coral
/ˈkɔɹəl/noun, adjective
coral is spelled C-O-R-A-L: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “coral vs corral” about 260 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, coral means “Any of many species of marine invertebrates in the class Anthozoa, most of which build hard calcium carbonate skeletons and form colonies, or a…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of coral is corals.
How many letters and syllables are in coral?
| Letters | 5: C-O-R-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.2 times per million words; the 8,784th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is coral?
Coral appears 7.2 times per million words in written English, the 8,784th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce coral?
- UK /ˈkɒɹəl/
- US /ˈkɔɹəl/
- Australia /ˈkɔɹəl/
Coral has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-coral.wav, En-coral.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with coral
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: choral (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: corral.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with coral?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as coral from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹəl/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: carol.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of coral
- corals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does coral mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
A hard substance made of the skeletons of these organisms.
- 3
A somewhat yellowish orange-pink color; the color of red coral (Corallium rubrum) of the Mediterranean Sea, commonly used as an ornament or gem.
- 4
The ovaries of a cooked lobster; so called from their color.
- 5
A piece of coral, usually fitted with small bells and other appurtenances, used by children as a plaything.
adjective
- 1
Made of coral.
- 2
Having the orange-pink color of coral.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Coral in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | corail , corallien |
| German | Koralle , koralle |
| Portuguese | coral , coralino |
| Spanish | coral, coralina , coralino, coralífero |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does coral come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).