cotillion

/kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/

//kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃// noun

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

"cotillion" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cotillion” is uncommon English (frequency #84,120 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,120
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cotillion · cotillion · English

cotillion · rank #84,120 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,120
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH coppery

Nearest frequency peer: coppery (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “cotillion”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “cotillion” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cotillion
PropertyValue
Headwordcotillion
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/
Letters9
Frequency rank#84,120
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cotillion” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).cotillionfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “coppery” (#84,119), “cottonmouth” (#84,121), “convolutional” (#84,118). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cotillion” is #84,120. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cotillion is uncommon English at frequency #84,120 among 5,599 “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

  1. 1
    A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles.
  2. 2
    The music regulating the cotillion.
  3. 3
    Ellipsis of cotillion ball, a coming-of-age party meant to present girls newly transitioned into womanhood to the community for courtship.
  4. 4
    A kind of woollen material for women's skirts.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Mrs. Hughes now joined them, and asked Miss Tilney if she was ready to go. "I hope I shall have the pleasure of seeing you again soon," said Catherine. "Shall you be at the cotillion ball tomorrow?"
  2. The second figure [of the dance] commenced, and I made a sad bungle; so I did of the third, and fourth, and fifth, for I never had danced a cotillon.

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

cotillón(Español)cotillon(Français)Kotillon(Deutsch)

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 "cotillion"?
"cotillion" is spelled C-O-T-I-L-L-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/.
What does "cotillion" mean?
As a noun, "cotillion" means: A bold dance performed in groups of eight where women lift their skirts to display their ankles.
How do you pronounce "cotillion"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cotillion" is /kəʊtɪlˈjɒ̃/. 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 "cotillion"?
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 son... 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 "cotillion", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Clayton's#84,104Choudhary#84,098damascene#84,144decoction#84,156

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list