corm

noun

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

The verdict

“corm” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
4
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A short, vertical, swollen, underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as drought.

Corpus desk

Index EN-corm · corm · English

corm · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for corm
PropertyValue
Headwordcorm
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters4
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “corm” in English

cormranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

corm is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A short, vertical, swollen, underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as drought.".

corm has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From scientific Latin cormus, from Ancient Greek κορμός (kormós, “trunk stripped of its boughs”). The correct English form is corm, spelled C-O-R-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A short, vertical, swollen, underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as drought.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how corm appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The saffron crocus has to be planted by hand from corms.

Etymology

From scientific Latin cormus, from Ancient Greek κορμός (kormós, “trunk stripped of its boughs”).

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "corm"?
"corm" is spelled C-O-R-M.
What does "corm" mean?
As a noun, "corm" means: A short, vertical, swollen, underground stem of a plant (usually one of the monocots) that serves as a storage organ to enable the plant to survive winter or other adverse conditions such as drought.
What is the origin of the word "corm"?
From scientific Latin cormus, from Ancient Greek κορμός (kormós, “trunk stripped of its boughs”). 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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list