courage
/ˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/noun
courage is spelled C-O-U-R-A-G-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, courage means “The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of courage is courages.
How many letters and syllables are in courage?
| Letters | 7: C-O-U-R-A-G-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 21 times per million words; the 4,153rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is courage?
Courage appears 21 times per million words in written English, the 4,153rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce courage?
- UK /ˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/
- /ˈkʊɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/
- US /ˈkʌɹ.ɪd͡ʒ/
Courage has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-ne-courage.ogg, En-us-courage.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of courage
- courages plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- couraging participle, present
- couraged participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does courage mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The quality of being confident, not afraid or easily intimidated, but without being incautious or inconsiderate.
It takes a lot of courage to be successful in business.
- 2
The ability to overcome one's fear, do or live things which one finds frightening.
He plucked up the courage to tell her how he felt.
- 3
The ability to maintain one's will or intent despite either the experience of fear, frailty, or frustration; or the occurrence of adversity, difficulty, defeat or reversal; moral fortitude.
verb
- 1
obsoleteTo encourage.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Courage in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bravoure, courage, cœur, vaillance |
| German | Courage, Herz, Mut, Tapferkeit , Beherztheit |
| Portuguese | coragem, coração, valentia , audácia |
| Spanish | coraje, valor, valentía |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does courage come from?
From Middle English corage, from Old French corage (French courage), from Vulgar Latin *corāticum, from Latin cor (“heart”). Distantly related to cardiac (“of the heart”), which is from Greek, but from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Displaced Middle English elne, ellen, from Old English ellen (“courage, valor”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).