colours

\ˈkʌl.əz\

/\ˈkʌl.əz\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“colours” is uncommon French (frequency #92,563 among 8,609 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,563
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pluriel de colour.

Corpus desk

Index FR-colours · colours · French

colours · rank #92,563 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,563
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH colophane

Nearest frequency peer: colophane (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rangs de longue queue près de « colours »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « colours » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for colours
PropertyValue
Headwordcolours
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ˈkʌl.əz\
Letters7
Frequency rank#92,563
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « colours » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).colourstombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Voisins rares de la même bande: « colophane » (#92,562), « colportage » (#92,564), « cognacs » (#92,561). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « colours » est au #92,563. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

colours is uncommon French at frequency #92,563 among 8,609 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ˈkʌl.əz\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for colours in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is colours, spelled C-O-L-O-U-R-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pluriel de colour.
  2. 2
    Fanion. S’emploie généralement au pluriel dans ce sens, sauf dans le nom de la célèbre cérémonie annuelle britannique Trooping the Colour.

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 "colours"?
"colours" is spelled C-O-L-O-U-R-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ˈkʌl.əz\.
What does "colours" mean?
As a noun, "colours" means: Pluriel de colour.
How do you pronounce "colours"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "colours" is \ˈkʌl.əz\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "colours" come from?
"colours" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "colours", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cognacs#92,561chênaie#92,549Chatila#92,542cassais#92,530

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list