doula
/ˈduːlə/noun
doula is spelled D-O-U-L-A: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, doula means “A trained support person who provides emotional, physical and practical assistance to a pregnant woman or couple before, during or after childbirth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of doula is doulas or doúlas.
How many letters and syllables are in doula?
| Letters | 5: D-O-U-L-A |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,884th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is doula?
Doula appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th 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 doula?
- /ˈduːlə/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-doula.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with doula?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as doula.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: aloud.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of doula
- doulas plural
- doúlas plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does doula mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A trained support person who provides emotional, physical and practical assistance to a pregnant woman or couple before, during or after childbirth.
- 2
A trained person who provides similar support to someone who is diagnosed with an incurable condition and is receiving end-of-life care.
noun
- 1
Alternative form of doula.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Doula in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense person assisting a pregnant mother before, during or after childbirth:
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 doula come from?
Borrowed from Greek δούλα (doúla, “servant-woman”), from Ancient Greek δούλη (doúlē, “female slave”). Popularized by the American anthropologist Dana Raphael in the book The Tender Gift: Breastfeeding (1973), where the word is credited to Eleni Rassias.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).