corsair
/kɔːɹsɛəɹ/noun
corsair is spelled C-O-R-S-A-I-R: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, corsair means “A French privateer, especially from the port of Saint-Malo” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of corsair is corsairs.
How many letters and syllables are in corsair?
| Letters | 7: C-O-R-S-A-I-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 35,748th 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 corsair?
Corsair appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 35,748th 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 corsair?
- /kɔːɹsɛəɹ/
Corsair 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: En-us-corsair.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of corsair
- corsairs plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does corsair mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A French privateer, especially from the port of Saint-Malo.
- 2
A privateer or pirate in general.
- 3
The ship of such privateers or pirates, especially of French nationality.
- 4
A nocturnal assassin bug of the genus Rasahus, found in the southern USA.
- 5
A Californian market fish (Sebastes rosaceus).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Corsair in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pirate, corsaire |
| German | Korsar |
| Portuguese | corsário |
| Spanish | corsario , buque corsario |
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 corsair come from?
Borrowed from French corsaire, from Medieval Latin cursārius (“pirate”), from Latin cursus (“course, a running; plunder, hostile inroad”). Doublet of courser and hussar.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).