noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈkɒk.li.ə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Atlantic-Canada, General-American:/ˈkoʊ.kli.ə/
Atlantic-Canada, General-American:/ˈkɑ.kli.ə/
Texas:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, dialectal:/ˈkɒk.li.ə/of the US
CMU ARPABET:K AA1 K L IY0 AH0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
The complex, spirally coiled, tapered cavity of the inner ear of higher vertebrates, which contains the organ of Corti and in which sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A spiral-shaped shell, especially that of a snail.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
the snail-shaped tube (in the inner ear coiled around the modiolus) where sound vibrations are converted into nerve impulses by the organ of Corti
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: tube, tube-shaped structure
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin cochlea (“a snail”), from Ancient Greek κόχλιας (kókhlias, “a snail with a spiral shell”).
Across languages
Translations
34 source translations are retained for this English entry.