coupling
/ˈkʌplɪŋ/
"coupling" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“coupling” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,593 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,593
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The act of joining together to form a couple.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | coupling |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkʌplɪŋ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #15,593 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “coupling” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for coupling is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkʌplɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,593 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for coupling, with forms such as "ccoupling", "copuling", and "coulping". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "curling", "culling", "cupping", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English couplynge; equivalent to couple + -ing. The correct English form is coupling, spelled C-O-U-P-L-I-N-G.
Definition
- 1The act of joining together to form a couple.
- 2A device that couples two things together.
- 3The degree of reliance between two or more software modules.
- 4A connection between two electronic circuits such that a signal can pass between them.
- 5The property of physical systems that they are interacting with each other
- 6An act of sexual intercourse.
- 7A link between the performance of an action and the location where that action occurs or the method used to perform that action.
Etymology
From Middle English couplynge; equivalent to couple + -ing.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccoupling,copuling,coulping,coupilng,couplign,couplingg,couplinng,couplling,couplnig,couppling,cuopling,ocupling
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of coupling - 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.
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
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Using “coupling”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-U-P-L-I-N-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkʌplɪŋ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “curling” - see the side-by-side comparison. coupling vs curling
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.