koan
/ˈkoʊ.ɑn/noun
koan is spelled K-O-A-N: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 88,353rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, koan means “A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable or parable, which has become an object of Zen study…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of koan is koans or kōans.
How many letters and syllables are in koan?
| Letters | 4: K-O-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 88,353rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| 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 koan?
Koan appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 88,353rd 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 koan?
- UK /ˈkəʊ.ɑːn/
- US /ˈkoʊ.ɑn/
Koan has 2 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-koan.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with koan?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as koan from its last stressed vowel (/oʊɑn/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: kano, kona, kaon.
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 koan
- koans plural
- kōan
- kōans plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does koan mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A story about a Zen master and his student, sometimes like a riddle, other times like a fable or parable, which has become an object of Zen study, and which, when meditated upon, may unlock mechanisms in the Zen student’s mind leading to satori.
- 2
A riddle with no solution, used to provoke reflection on the inadequacy of logical reasoning, and to lead to enlightenment.
- 3
A therapy technique used by Traditional Chinese medicinal physicians or medical practitioners to break a presenting patients habitual pattern of thinking that has been diagnosed as the primary cause of an illness or disease.
noun
- 1
Alternative spelling of koan.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Koan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 koan come from?
From Japanese 公案 (kōan), derived from Chinese 公案 (gōng'àn, “official business”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).