kola
noun
kola is a noun meaning “A tree, genus Cola, bearing large brown seeds ("nuts") that are the source of cola extract” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled K-O-L-A, and it appears about once in every 3 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of kola is kolas.
What does kola mean?
noun
- 1
A tree, genus Cola, bearing large brown seeds ("nuts") that are the source of cola extract.
- 2
A nut of this tree.
- 3
datedrareAlternative form of cola (“drink made with kola nut flavoring”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of kola
- kolas plural
- cola
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is kola?
Kola appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 50,539th 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).
Words people confuse with kola
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: cola.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Kola in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense tree:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | cola |
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 kola come from?
Presumably from a West African language. Compare Hausa gōr̃ò, Bambara goro, Temne kola, Mandinka kolo (“kola nut”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).