courir

\ku.ʁiʁ\

/\ku.ʁiʁ\/ verb

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

The verdict

“courir” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #2,707 in French word frequency and used as a verb.

#2,707
frequency rank, French
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Se déplacer rapidement, avec impétuosité, par un mouvement alternatif des jambes ou des pattes prenant appui sur le sol, avec une phase de suspension en l’air, sans appui.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

courir vs cuir
67% similar
courir vs cours
67% similar
courir vs court
67% similar

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

Key facts for courir
PropertyValue
Headwordcourir
LanguageFrench
Part of speechVerb
IPA\ku.ʁiʁ\
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,707
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “courir” 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). courir 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 courir is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ku.ʁiʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #2,707 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 25 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for courir, with forms such as "ccourir", "coruir", and "couirr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cuir", "cours", "court", 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 spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is courir, spelled C-O-U-R-I-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Se déplacer rapidement, avec impétuosité, par un mouvement alternatif des jambes ou des pattes prenant appui sur le sol, avec une phase de suspension en l’air, sans appui.
  2. 2
    Être en mouvement, en parlant des choses.
  3. 3
    Disputer une course.
  4. 4
    Définition manquante ou à compléter. (Ajouter)
  5. 5
    Aller plus vite que le pas.
  6. 6
    Aller avec empressement.
  7. 7
    Aller, poursuivre (souvent dans un sens péjoratif).
  8. 8
    Faire trop vite.
  9. 9
    Faire trop vite.
  10. 10
    Aller çà et là, sans s’arrêter longtemps en chaque endroit.
  11. 11
    Faire route, louvoyer.
  12. 12
    Faire route, louvoyer.
  13. 13
    Prolonger, aller dans une direction déterminée.
  14. 14
    Couler, s’écouler.
  15. 15
    Couler, s’écouler.
  16. 16
    Échoir à propos d’une rente, de gages, d’appointements, etc.
  17. 17
    Circuler, se propager, se communiquer.
  18. 18
    Être en vogue.
  19. 19
    Poursuivre à la course avec dessein d’attraper.
  20. 20
    En parlant des personnes ou des choses qu’on recherche avec empressement, qui sont fort en vogue. On ne l’emploie guère qu’au participe passé.
  21. 21
    Être exposé à.
  22. 22
    Parcourir.
  23. 23
    Hanter, fréquenter, poursuivre de ses assiduités.
  24. 24
    Ennuyer, importuner (abréviation de l'expression : courir sur le haricot)
  25. 25
    Sortir, vagabonder, à la recherche d’aventures amoureuses.

This word in other languages

run(English)correr(Español)rennen(Deutsch)correr(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccourir,coruir,couirr,courirr,courri,courrir,cuorir,ocurir

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of courir - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ccourir1coruir2couirr2courirr1courri2courrir1cuorir2ocurir2
Edit distance from "courir"

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 "courir"?
"courir" is spelled C-O-U-R-I-R. The IPA pronunciation is \ku.ʁiʁ\.
What does "courir" mean?
As a verb, "courir" means: Se déplacer rapidement, avec impétuosité, par un mouvement alternatif des jambes ou des pattes prenant appui sur le sol, avec une phase de suspension en l’air, sans appui.
What words are commonly confused with "courir"?
"courir" is commonly confused with "cuir", "cours", "court". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "courir"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "courir" is \ku.ʁiʁ\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "courir" come from?
"courir" 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.

Using “courir”

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

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