coucou

\ku.ku\

/\ku.ku\/ noun

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

The verdict

“coucou” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #5,440 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#5,440
frequency rank, French
6
letters
7
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nom normalisé de 11 genres assez hétérogènes comprenant 56 espèces d'oiseaux de la famille des cuculidés habitant l'Ancien Monde, essentiellement caractérisées par leur parasitisme de couvée, habit...

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

coucou vs couru
67% similar
coucou vs cousu
67% similar
coucou vs coupon
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for coucou
PropertyValue
Headwordcoucou
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ku.ku\
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,440
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “coucou” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). coucou lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for coucou is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ku.ku\. Corpus data places it at rank #5,440 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for coucou, with forms such as "ccoucou", "cocuou", and "couccou". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "couru", "cousu", "coupon", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is coucou, spelled C-O-U-C-O-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Nom normalisé de 11 genres assez hétérogènes comprenant 56 espèces d'oiseaux de la famille des cuculidés habitant l'Ancien Monde, essentiellement caractérisées par leur parasitisme de couvée, habitude par laquelle elles confient la couvaison et l'élevage des oisillons à d'autres espèces d'oiseaux le plus souvent plus petites qu'elles; l'espèce-type de ce groupe d'oiseaux est le coucou gris (Cuculus canorus) dont le cri a donné son nom au genre.
  2. 2
    Coucou gris
  3. 3
    Cri de cet oiseau.
  4. 4
    Espèce cleptoparasite, par analogie au comportement de parasitisme de couvée du Coucou gris.
  5. 5
    Variétés de poules appréciées pour leur chair, dont le plumage rappelle celui du coucou gris.
  6. 6
    Pendule, ordinairement de bois, où il y a une figure d’oiseau qui, lorsque les heures sonnent, se montre à une petite porte et imite le chant du coucou.
  7. 7
    Salut amical et familier.
  8. 8
    Nom vernaculaire de la primevère officinale ou primevère vraie ou Primula veris.
  9. 9
    Voiture hippomobile qui assurait le transport de passagers à la demande dans la banlieue de Paris entre 1780 et le milieu du XIXᵉ siècle.
  10. 10
    Avion (ou autre type de machine : automobile, ordinateur...) vétuste et n’inspirant pas la confiance.
  11. 11
    Idiot, crétin, attardé mental, fou.

Synonyms

aéroplaneavionzinczingtaubetaxitête de linottecervelle d’oiseau

This word in other languages

cuckoo(English)cuco(Español)Kuckuck(Deutsch)cuco(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccoucou,cocuou,couccou,coucuo,couocu,cuocou,ocucou

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of coucou - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccoucou1cocuou2couccou1coucuo2couocu2cuocou2ocucou2
Edit distance from "coucou"

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 "coucou"?
"coucou" is spelled C-O-U-C-O-U. The IPA pronunciation is \ku.ku\.
What does "coucou" mean?
As a noun, "coucou" means: Nom normalisé de 11 genres assez hétérogènes comprenant 56 espèces d'oiseaux de la famille des cuculidés habitant l'Ancien Monde, essentiellement caractérisées par leur parasitisme de couvée, habit...
What words are commonly confused with "coucou"?
"coucou" is commonly confused with "couru", "cousu", "coupon". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "coucou"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "coucou" is \ku.ku\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "coucou" come from?
"coucou" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “coucou”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is C-O-U-C-O-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \ku.ku\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “couru” - see the side-by-side comparison. coucou vs couru
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list