cotillion
/kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/
"cotillion" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cotillion” is uncommon English (frequency #84,120 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,120
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cotillion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #84,120 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cotillion” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
cotillion is uncommon English at frequency #84,120 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for cotillion in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Circa 1750, in the sense of the dance, from French cotillon (“petticoat”), extended to the dance because of the distinctive lift of dress revealing the petticoat, from cotte (“dress”) + -illon (diminutive). Said to derive from the then-popular song Ma commè… The correct English form is cotillion, spelled C-O-T-I-L-L-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles.
- 2The music regulating the cotillion.
- 3Ellipsis of cotillion ball, a coming-of-age party meant to present girls newly transitioned into womanhood to the community for courtship.
- 4A kind of woollen material for women's skirts.
Etymology
Circa 1750, in the sense of the dance, from French cotillon (“petticoat”), extended to the dance because of the distinctive lift of dress revealing the petticoat, from cotte (“dress”) + -illon (diminutive). Said to derive from the then-popular song Ma commère, quand je danse, mon cotillion va-t-il bien.
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Using “cotillion”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-T-I-L-L-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.