koto
"koto" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“koto” is uncommon English (frequency #55,540 among 9,255 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,540
- frequency rank, English
- 9,255
- “K” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A Japanese stringed instrument having numerous strings, usually seven or thirteen, that are stretched over a convex wooden sounding board and are plucked with three plectra, worn on the thumb, inde...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | koto |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #55,540 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “koto” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
koto is uncommon English at frequency #55,540 among 9,255 “K” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A Japanese stringed instrument having numerous strings, usually seven or thirteen, that are stretched over a convex wooden sounding board and are plucked with three plectra, worn on the thumb, inde...".
No misspelling variants are generated for koto in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Japanese 箏 (koto). The correct English form is koto, spelled K-O-T-O.
Definition
- 1A Japanese stringed instrument having numerous strings, usually seven or thirteen, that are stretched over a convex wooden sounding board and are plucked with three plectra, worn on the thumb, index finger, and middle finger of one hand.
Etymology
From Japanese 箏 (koto).
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “koto”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-O-T-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.