COWAN is valid in Collins, not in North America — 10 points
It depends on the list you play by. COWAN is in Collins, used in the UK and most of the world, but it is not in the North American lists — so in a US or Canadian game an opponent can challenge it off the board. Worth 10 points. Words with Friends does not accept it either.
Which word lists accept COWAN?
| Official Scrabble Players DictionaryUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
|---|---|
| Official Tournament and Club Word ListUSA, Canada, Thailand | Not listed |
| Collins Scrabble WordsEnglish in most countries | Valid |
| Words with FriendsZynga word list | Not listed |
Word power: 34 / 100
Our own measure of how useful COWAN is to know. It scores 10 from 5 tiles, takes 1 hook, and its letters make up 5.4% of the bag. How this number is calculated
Hooks for COWAN
Front hooks — 0
None.
Back hooks — 1
cowansChecked against OSPD, TWL, CSW, WWF. Takes an S, so it hooks onto plurals easily.
How COWAN scores
Face value of the 5 tiles in COWAN, before any board multiplier.
Tiles you need
| Letter | Needed | In the bag |
|---|---|---|
| c | 1 | 2 |
| o | 1 | 8 |
| w | 1 | 2 |
| a | 1 | 9 |
| n | 1 | 6 |
Drawing exactly these 5 tiles as an opening rack: 1 in 43,569.
What does COWAN mean in Scrabble?
noun
Scots
An unskilled or untrained mason, especially one who never served a proper apprenticeship.
Cowan began as a Scots word for a drystone waller, someone who built walls without mortar and without going through the formal training a guild required. Because such a builder worked outside the recognised trade, Freemasonry later borrowed cowan for anyone who tries to pass as a member without proper initiation, an outsider pretending to belong. Both senses share the same idea of someone doing skilled work, or claiming skilled status, without earning it the accepted way.
How COWAN is used
Chiefly Scots; also used in Freemasonry for an uninitiated outsider.
- The old wall was said to be the work of a cowan, not a trained mason.
- A cowan built without mortar, fitting stone directly against stone.
- Freemasons used cowan for anyone posing as a member without initiation.
- Villagers hired a cowan cheaply, knowing the work might not last.
- The guild looked down on any cowan who undercut its prices.
Written for this site: 1 meaning of COWAN and 5 example sentences, not copied from a published dictionary.
Words starting with COWAN
1 longer words begin with COWAN.
Shorter words from the letters in COWAN
Common questions about COWAN
- Is COWAN valid in Words with Friends?
- No. Words with Friends keeps its own list, separate from the Scrabble dictionaries, and COWAN is not in it.
- How many points is COWAN worth?
- COWAN is worth 10 points in Scrabble and 12 points in Words with Friends.
- What does COWAN mean?
- An unskilled or untrained mason, especially one who never served a proper apprenticeship.
- What letters can be added to COWAN?
- COWAN takes 1 hook: 0 in front and 1 at the end.
Every word you can build from the 5 letters of COWAN:
Open COWAN in the Word Finder