chou
\ʃu\
The verdict
“chou” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #6,171 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,171
- frequency rank, French
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Non usuel donné à de nombreuses variétés de Brassica oleracea ainsi qu'a quelques autres espèces du genre Brassica, plante potagère de la famille des Brassicaceae (anciennement crucifères) que l'on...
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chou |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ʃu\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #6,171 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “chou” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for chou is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʃu\. Corpus data places it at rank #6,171 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for chou, with forms such as "cchou", "chhou", and "chuo". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "co", "con", "cru", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is chou, spelled C-H-O-U.
Definition
- 1Non usuel donné à de nombreuses variétés de Brassica oleracea ainsi qu'a quelques autres espèces du genre Brassica, plante potagère de la famille des Brassicaceae (anciennement crucifères) que l'on cultive pour manger diverses partie de la plante.
- 2Plante ou partie de plante qui a plus ou moins de ressemblance avec le chou.
- 3Bourgeon de certaines plantes comme le cocotier ou le vacoa.
- 4Nœud de ruban, d’étoffe, en forme de chou stylisé.
- 5Pâtisserie en forme de petite boule.
- 6Tête.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: cchou,chhou,chuo,cohu,hcou
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of chou - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "chou"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “chou”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-H-O-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʃu\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “co” - see the side-by-side comparison. chou vs co
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.