cottonwood

Name: cottonwood, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“cottonwood” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,402. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#37,402
frequency rank, English: 43,570
“C” headwords: 13
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tree from one of number of species of tree in the genus Populus (poplars), typically growing along watercourses, with fluffy catkins.

Key facts for cottonwood
Property	Value
Headword	cottonwood
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
Letters	10
Frequency rank	#37,402
Misspellings tracked	13
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cottonwood” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). cottonwood lands here:

#37,402

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around cottonwood, anoun. Corpus frequency is #37,402 among 43,570 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for cottonwood, with forms such as "ccottonwood", "cotonwood", and "cototnwood". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From cotton + wood. The correct English form is cottonwood, spelled C-O-T-T-O-N-W-O-O-D.

Definition

1
A tree from one of number of species of tree in the genus Populus (poplars), typically growing along watercourses, with fluffy catkins.
2
Populus sect. Aigeiros, a taxonomic section of the poplar genus
3
A cottonwood hibiscus (Talipariti tiliaceum, syn. Hibiscus tiliaceus), a flowering shrub or tree in the mallow family.
4
A tree of species Ceiba pentandra, native to the American tropics and west Africa; silk-cotton tree.
5
Several species of trees endemic to New Zealand.

Etymology

From cotton + wood.

This word in other languages

álamo(Español)Pappel(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

ccottonwood
cotonwood
cototnwood
cottnowood
cottonnwood
cottonowod
cottonwod
cottonwodo
cottonwoodd
cottonwwood
cottownood
ctotonwood
octtonwood

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cottonwood - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "cottonwood"

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 "cottonwood"?

"cottonwood" is spelled C-O-T-T-O-N-W-O-O-D.

What does "cottonwood" mean?

As a noun, "cottonwood" means: A tree from one of number of species of tree in the genus Populus (poplars), typically growing along watercourses, with fluffy catkins.

What are common misspellings of "cottonwood"?

Common misspellings include "ccottonwood", "cotonwood", "cototnwood", "cottnowood", "cottonnwood". The correct spelling is "cottonwood".

What is the origin of the word "cottonwood"?

From cotton + wood. 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.

Using “cottonwood”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is C-O-T-T-O-N-W-O-O-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

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.