costa

/ˈkɒ.stə/

//ˈkɒ.stə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"costa" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“costa” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,589. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,589
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of rib.

Corpus desk

Index EN-costa · costa · English

costa · rank #5,589 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,589
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH convenient

Nearest frequency peer: convenient (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “costa”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “costa” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

costa vs cot
60% similar
costa vs CSA
0% similar
costa vs CST
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for costa
PropertyValue
Headwordcosta
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɒ.stə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,589
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “costa”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).costalands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “convenient” (#5,588), “criminals” (#5,590), “compromise” (#5,587). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “costa” is #5,589. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around costa (IPA /ˈkɒ.stə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,589 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for costa, with forms such as "ccosta", "cossta", and "costta". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cot", "CSA", "CST", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from Latin costa (“a rib”). Doublet of coast. The correct English form is costa, spelled C-O-S-T-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Synonym of rib.
  2. 2
    A riblike part of a plant or animal, such as a midrib of a leaf or a thickened vein or the margin of an insect wing.
  3. 3
    A riblike part of a plant or animal, such as a midrib of a leaf or a thickened vein or the margin of an insect wing.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin costa (“a rib”). Doublet of coast.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccosta
  • cossta
  • costta
  • cotsa
  • csota
  • ocsta

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of costa - 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.

ccosta1cossta1costta1cotsa2csota2ocsta2
Edit distance from "costa"

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

How do you spell "costa"?
"costa" is spelled C-O-S-T-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɒ.stə/.
What does "costa" mean?
As a noun, "costa" means: Synonym of rib.
What words are commonly confused with "costa"?
"costa" is commonly confused with "cot", "CSA", "CST". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "costa"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "costa" is /ˈkɒ.stə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "costa"?
Unadapted borrowing from Latin costa (“a rib”). Doublet of coast. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "costa", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

burst#5,579bombs#5,578hates#5,601bacon#5,573

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

crop6 variantscaps6 variantsTommy6 variantsteens6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list