coulomb

/ˈkuː.lɒm/

//ˈkuː.lɒm// noun

"coulomb" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“coulomb” is uncommon English (frequency #59,984 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,984
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electric charge; the amount of electric charge carried by a current of 1 ampere flowing for 1 second. Symbol: C

Corpus desk

Index EN-coulomb · coulomb · English

coulomb · rank #59,984 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,984
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH corse

Nearest frequency peer: corse (-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 “coulomb”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for coulomb
PropertyValue
Headwordcoulomb
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkuː.lɒm/
Letters7
Frequency rank#59,984
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “coulomb” 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).coulombfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “corse” (#59,983), “countermeasure” (#59,985), “Coquitlam” (#59,982). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “coulomb” is #59,984. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

coulomb is uncommon English at frequency #59,984 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkuː.lɒm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electric charge; the amount of electric charge carried by a current of 1 ampere flowing for 1 second. Symbol: C".

Zero misspellings are on record for coulomb in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French coulomb, from the French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb. The correct English form is coulomb, spelled C-O-U-L-O-M-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electric charge; the amount of electric charge carried by a current of 1 ampere flowing for 1 second. Symbol: C

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. He is charged up with enough coulombs to make his hair stand on end.

Etymology

From French coulomb, from the French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "coulomb"?
"coulomb" is spelled C-O-U-L-O-M-B. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkuː.lɒm/.
What does "coulomb" mean?
As a noun, "coulomb" means: In the International System of Units, the derived unit of electric charge; the amount of electric charge carried by a current of 1 ampere flowing for 1 second. Symbol: C
How do you pronounce "coulomb"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "coulomb" is /ˈkuː.lɒm/. 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 "coulomb"?
From French coulomb, from the French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb. 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 "coulomb", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list