corduroy
/ˈkɔɹdəɹɔɪ/noun, adjective, verb
corduroy is spelled C-O-R-D-U-R-O-Y: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, corduroy means “A heavy fabric, usually made of cotton, with vertical ribs” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of corduroy is corduroys.
How many letters and syllables are in corduroy?
| Letters | 8: C-O-R-D-U-R-O-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 48,230th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is corduroy?
Corduroy appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 48,230th 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 corduroy?
- UK /ˈkɔːdəɹɔɪ/
- /ˈkɔːdɹɔɪ/
- US /ˈkɔɹdəɹɔɪ/
Corduroy has 3 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: En-us-corduroy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of corduroy
- corduroys plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- corduroying participle, present
- corduroyed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does corduroy mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A heavy fabric, usually made of cotton, with vertical ribs.
- 2
IrelandobsoleteslangCheap and poor-quality whiskey.
- 3
A pattern on snow resulting from the use of a snow groomer to pack snow and improve skiing, snowboarding and snowmobile trail conditions. Corduroy is widely regarded as a good surface on which to ski or ride.
adjective
- 1
Of a road, path, etc., paved with split or round logs laid crosswise side by side.
verb
- 1
To make (a road) by laying down split logs or tree-trunks over a marsh, swamp etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Corduroy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense heavy fabric with vertical ribs:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | velours côtelé |
| German | Cord, Schnürlsamt |
| Portuguese | bombazine, bombazina, veludo cotelê |
| Spanish | pana, corderoy |
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 corduroy come from?
Origin uncertain. Probably from cord + duroy (“a 17th century coarse fabric made in England”). Probably not from French *corde du roi (“cloth of the king”), which is unattested in French, where the term for the corduroy is velours côtelé. Possibly from cordesoy from corde de soie (“rope of silk or silk-like fabric”), named for example in a 1756 advertisement for clothing fabrics; see Wikipedia article, and comparable in language form to the contemporary serg(e)dusoys (“silk serge”), see Serge (fabric).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).