covey
cov·ey/ˈkʌvi/noun, verb
covey is spelled C-O-V-E-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables (cov·ey). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, covey means “A brood or family of partridges (family Phasianidae), which includes game birds such as grouse (tribe Tetraonini) and ptarmigans (tribe Tetraonini…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of covey is covies or coveys.
How many letters and syllables are in covey?
| Letters | 5: C-O-V-E-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: cov·ey |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 46,473rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is covey?
Covey appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 46,473rd 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 covey?
- US /ˈkʌvi/
As a noun (“A male person, a man; a chap, a chappie”): /ˈkəʊvi/, /ˈkoʊvi/.
Covey has 2 syllables, split cov·ey in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-covey_(u).wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-covey_(ou).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of covey
- covies plural
- coveys plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- covie
- coveying participle, present
- coveyed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does covey mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A brood or family of partridges (family Phasianidae), which includes game birds such as grouse (tribe Tetraonini) and ptarmigans (tribe Tetraonini, genus Lagopus).
- 2
A group of other birds, such as quail (superfamily Phasianoidea).
- 3
A group or party of people; also, a group or set of things.
- 4
UKdatedslangA male person, a man; a chap, a chappie.
verb
- 1
To gather into a group.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does covey come from?
The noun is derived from Middle English covei, covey (“brood of partridges, covey; volley of shot; kind of gun”) [and other forms], from Old French covée (“brood (of chickens), clutch”) (modern French couvée), a noun use of the feminine past participle of cover (“to brood (an egg)”) (modern French couver), from Latin cubāre, the present active infinitive of cubō (“to lie down, recline; to incubate; to be broody”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (“to lie down”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).