cothurne

\kɔ.tyʁn\

/\kɔ.tyʁn\/ noun

The verdict

“cothurne” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Sorte de chaussure montante que portaient les anciens Grecs, entourant le pied et une partie du mollet.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cothurne · cothurne · French

cothurne · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for cothurne
PropertyValue
Headwordcothurne
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\kɔ.tyʁn\
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « cothurne » en français

cothurnereste hors des 100.000 mots français les plus fréquents, dans la longue queue du vocabulaire technique, archaïque ou rare, là où le doute d'orthographe frappe.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cothurne is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \kɔ.tyʁn\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for cothurne in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct French form is cothurne, spelled C-O-T-H-U-R-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Sorte de chaussure montante que portaient les anciens Grecs, entourant le pied et une partie du mollet.
  2. 2
    Sorte de chaussure montante que portaient les anciens Grecs, entourant le pied et une partie du mollet.
  3. 3
    Tragédie, symbole du genre tragique, par opposition au brodequin ou à la socque qui est celui du genre comique.
  4. 4
    Chaussure montant jusqu’au mollet et lacée ; les lacets de ces souliers.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cothurne appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Les capitaines, portant des cothurnes de bronze, s’étaient placés dans le chemin du milieu, sous un voile de pourpre à franges d’or, qui s’étendait depuis le mur des écuries jusqu’à la première terrasse du palais ; […]. .
  2. Ils se tiennent sur des cothurnes ; c’est une chaussure haute quelquefois de quatre ou cinq pouces.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cothurne"?
"cothurne" is spelled C-O-T-H-U-R-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \kɔ.tyʁn\.
What does "cothurne" mean?
As a noun, "cothurne" means: Sorte de chaussure montante que portaient les anciens Grecs, entourant le pied et une partie du mollet.
How do you pronounce "cothurne"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cothurne" is \kɔ.tyʁn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cothurne" come from?
"cothurne" 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list