cumulus

\ky.my.lys\

/\ky.my.lys\/ noun

The verdict

“cumulus” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #42,266. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#42,266
frequency rank, French
8,609
“C” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Amas de nuages dont la partie supérieure est arrondie et présente des reflets blancs, tandis que la partie inférieure est sombre.

Corpus desk

Index FR-cumulus · cumulus · French

cumulus · rank #42,266 · 10 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #42,266
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,609
  • PHOTO-FINISH cueille

Nearest frequency peer: cueille (-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.

Pairs de rang près de l'aimant d'erreurs « cumulus »

Même bande de rareté: utile si une faute tombe sur un lemme voisin

corpus weight

What this shows « cumulus » siège parmi ces pairs FrequencyWords; la profondeur des fautes est suivie à part dans le graphique d'édition.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

cumulus vs cumul
71% similar
cumulus vs cumule
71% similar
cumulus vs cumuler
71% similar

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

Key facts for cumulus
PropertyValue
Headwordcumulus
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ky.my.lys\
Letters7
Frequency rank#42,266
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « cumulus »

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.cumulusse place ici:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « cueille » (#42,265), « cybernétique » (#42,267), « Cte » (#42,264). Parmi 8,609 lemmes en « C », « cumulus » est au #42,266. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around cumulus (IPA \ky.my.lys\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #42,266 among 8,609 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for cumulus, with forms such as "ccumulus", "cmuulus", and "cumluus". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "cumul", "cumule", "cumuler", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is cumulus, spelled C-U-M-U-L-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Amas de nuages dont la partie supérieure est arrondie et présente des reflets blancs, tandis que la partie inférieure est sombre.
  2. 2
    Nom déposé du premier chauffe-eau électrique à accumulation inventé en 1915 par le suisse Frédéric Sauter.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le ciel est huit dixième couvert par cumulus et cumulo-nimbus, et un vent de S.-S.-E. à S.-E. de 60 kilomètres-heure augmente notre vitesse jusqu’à 240 kilomètres-heure.
  2. Enfin les niveaux de base des cumulus d’été sont beaucoup plus élevés que dans les plaines.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccumulus
  • cmuulus
  • cumluus
  • cummulus
  • cumullus
  • cumulsu
  • cumuluss
  • cumuuls
  • cuumlus
  • ucmulus

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cumulus - 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.

ccumulus1cmuulus2cumluus2cummulus1cumullus1cumulsu2cumuluss1cumuuls2
Edit distance from "cumulus"

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 "cumulus"?
"cumulus" is spelled C-U-M-U-L-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is \ky.my.lys\.
What does "cumulus" mean?
As a noun, "cumulus" means: Amas de nuages dont la partie supérieure est arrondie et présente des reflets blancs, tandis que la partie inférieure est sombre.
What words are commonly confused with "cumulus"?
"cumulus" is commonly confused with "cumul", "cumule", "cumuler". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cumulus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cumulus" is \ky.my.lys\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "cumulus" come from?
"cumulus" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list