cour

/ˈkʊə(ɹ)/

//ˈkʊə(ɹ)// noun

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

"cour" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cour” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #41,064) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#41,064
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A three-month unit of television broadcasting, corresponding to one of the four seasons.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cour · cour · English

cour · rank #41,064 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #41,064
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH creamer

Nearest frequency peer: creamer (+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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “cour”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “cour” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cour vs CR
0% similar
cour vs CU
0% similar
cour vs cut
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cour
PropertyValue
Headwordcour
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkʊə(ɹ)/
Letters4
Frequency rank#41,064
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “cour”

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

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “creamer” (#41,065), “creases” (#41,066), “corkscrew” (#41,061). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cour” is #41,064. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for cour is neighbouring look-alikes ("CR", "CU", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈkʊə(ɹ)/. Frequency #41,064 among 5,599 “C” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for cour, with forms such as "ccour", "coru", and "courr". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CR", "CU", "cut", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from cours from Japanese クール (kūru), from French cours. Attestable in English among the anime community from at least 2007. Anime News Network's Lexicon Encyclopedia dictates the original cours to be unchanged in singular form, though that ha… The correct English form is cour, spelled C-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A three-month unit of television broadcasting, corresponding to one of the four seasons.
  2. 2
    A portion of a television program aired over the course of one such period, usually comprising around 10 to 14 weekly episodes.

Etymology

Back-formation from cours from Japanese クール (kūru), from French cours. Attestable in English among the anime community from at least 2007. Anime News Network's Lexicon Encyclopedia dictates the original cours to be unchanged in singular form, though that has been reanalyzed as a plural form.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccour
  • coru
  • courr
  • cuor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cour - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccour1coru2courr1cuor2
Edit distance from "cour"

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 "cour"?
"cour" is spelled C-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkʊə(ɹ)/.
What does "cour" mean?
As a noun, "cour" means: A three-month unit of television broadcasting, corresponding to one of the four seasons.
What words are commonly confused with "cour"?
"cour" is commonly confused with "CR", "CU", "cut". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cour" is /ˈkʊə(ɹ)/. 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 "cour"?
Back-formation from cours from Japanese クール (kūru), from French cours. Attestable in English among the anime community from at least 2007. Anime News Network's Lexicon Encyclopedia dictates the original cours to be unchanged in singular form, thou... 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 "cour", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cyan#41,072DINK#41,084cham#41,041Cana#41,034

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list