customs union

noun

"customs-union" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“customs union” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.

Corpus desk

Index EN-customs-union · customs union · English

customs union · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for customs union
PropertyValue
Headwordcustoms union
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “customs union” in English

customs unionranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

customs union is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for customs union in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is customs union, spelled C-U-S-T-O-M-S- -U-N-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. It appears the whole UK will remain in the customs union, so there are no tariff divergences or checks either on the island of Ireland or within the United Kingdom.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "customs union"?
"customs union" is spelled C-U-S-T-O-M-S- -U-N-I-O-N.
What does "customs union" mean?
As a noun, "customs union" means: A type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.
What language does "customs union" come from?
"customs union" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list