koala

\ko.a.la\

/\ko.a.la\/ noun

The verdict

“koala” has 6 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #40,344. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#40,344
frequency rank, French
737
“K” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
10
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mammifère marsupial arboricole de l’est de l’Australie, de nom scientifique Phascolarctos cinereus.

Corpus desk

Index FR-koala · koala · French

koala · rank #40,344 · 6 variants · 10 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #40,344
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 737
  • PHOTO-FINISH kilogramme

Nearest frequency peer: kilogramme (-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 « koala »

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

corpus weight

What this shows « koala » 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).

koala vs kool
60% similar
koala vs Kohl
40% similar
koala vs kara
60% similar

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

Key facts for koala
PropertyValue
Headwordkoala
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ko.a.la\
Letters5
Frequency rank#40,344
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs10
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Fréquence de l'aimant d'erreurs « koala »

La fréquence va de la poignée de mots du quotidien (gauche) à la longue queue presque jamais vue (droite).koalase place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « kilogramme » (#40,343), « laisseraient » (#40,345), « lamas » (#40,346). Parmi 737 lemmes en « K », « koala » est au #40,344. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around koala (IPA \ko.a.la\), anoun. Corpus frequency is #40,344 among 737 “K” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Mammifère marsupial arboricole de l’est de l’Australie, de nom scientifique Phascolarctos cinereus.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for koala, with forms such as "kaola", "kkoala", and "koaal". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 10 confusable-pair relationships, "kool", "Kohl", "kara", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No explicit etymology string is stored 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 koala, spelled K-O-A-L-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mammifère marsupial arboricole de l’est de l’Australie, de nom scientifique Phascolarctos cinereus.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Le koala ou Phascolarctos cinereus, marsupial d’une dizaine de kilos, est très exigeant dans le choix de sa nourriture. Il vit exclusivement dans les eucalyptus, ses griffes puissantes lui permettent de se hisser facilement dans les arbres… Les feuilles d’eucalyptus étant peu nourrissantes, le koala manque de réserves d’énergie et passe la plus grande par…
  2. Le koala, une des icônes australiennes, est menacé de disparition par le réchauffement climatique, selon une étude de l’université de Sydney qui met en garde : son extinction pourrait avoir lieu si rien n’est fait « en urgence » pour planter à la fois les arbres qui le protègent de la canicule et des eucalyptus dont il se nourrit la nuit.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • kaola
  • kkoala
  • koaal
  • koalla
  • kolaa
  • okala

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of koala - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

kaola2kkoala1koaal2koalla1kolaa2okala2
Edit distance from "koala"

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 "koala"?
"koala" is spelled K-O-A-L-A. The IPA pronunciation is \ko.a.la\.
What does "koala" mean?
As a noun, "koala" means: Mammifère marsupial arboricole de l’est de l’Australie, de nom scientifique Phascolarctos cinereus.
What words are commonly confused with "koala"?
"koala" is commonly confused with "kool", "Kohl", "kara". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "koala"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "koala" is \ko.a.la\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "koala" come from?
"koala" is a French word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "koala", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list