doula

\du.la\

/\du.la\/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency French
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Personne, qui fournit un accompagnement, une information et un soutien aux futures mères et à leur entourage durant la grossesse, l’accouchement et la période postnatale. C'est une activité de serv...

Corpus desk

Index FR-doula · doula · French

doula · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" 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 doula
PropertyValue
Headworddoula
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\du.la\
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « doula » en français

doulan'entre pas dans le top 100.000 du français: zone de termes techniques, archaïques ou rares.

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

Rare enough to double-check

doula is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \du.la\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for doula in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, 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 doula, spelled D-O-U-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Personne, qui fournit un accompagnement, une information et un soutien aux futures mères et à leur entourage durant la grossesse, l’accouchement et la période postnatale. C'est une activité de service à la personne.
  2. 2
    Professionnel fournissant accompagnement et soutien lors de grandes étapes de la vie, hors du domaine de la périnatalité : puberté, préconception, PMA, grossesse, avortement, fausse-couche, deuil périnatal, adoption, ménopause, deuil, fin de vie, ...

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Une doula ne fait pas d’accompagnement médical, elle n’est pas thérapeute, elle ne fait pas de suivi de grossesse.
  2. Le lendemain, la joie au cœur, sa rose écarlate à son cimier, il sortit du camp sur son beau destrier et prit la direction du Nord envié par tous ses compagnons, car il serait le premier à voir « France la doula ».

This word in other languages

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 "doula"?
"doula" is spelled D-O-U-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is \du.la\.
What does "doula" mean?
As a noun, "doula" means: Personne, qui fournit un accompagnement, une information et un soutien aux futures mères et à leur entourage durant la grossesse, l’accouchement et la période postnatale. C'est une activité de serv...
How do you pronounce "doula"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "doula" is \du.la\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "doula" come from?
"doula" 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