brown

[bɹaʊn]

/[bɹaʊn]/ adj

The verdict

“brown” is a regularly-used German word, ranked #6,400 in German word frequency and used as an adjective.

#6,400
frequency rank, German
5
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - von brauner Farbe

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

brown vs brun
60% similar
brown vs bon
60% similar
brown vs bro
60% similar

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

Key facts for brown
PropertyValue
Headwordbrown
LanguageGerman
Part of speechAdjective
IPA[bɹaʊn]
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,400
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brown” sits in German frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). brown lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The German entry for brown is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [bɹaʊn]. Corpus data places it at rank #6,400 in overall German word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "von brauner Farbe".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for brown, with forms such as "bbrown", "borwn", and "bronw". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "brun", "bon", "bro", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is brown, spelled B-R-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    von brauner Farbe

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbrown,borwn,bronw,brownn,browwn,brrown,brwon,rbown

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bbrown1borwn2bronw2brownn1browwn1brrown1brwon2rbown2
Edit distance from "brown"

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 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "brown"?
"brown" is spelled B-R-O-W-N. The IPA pronunciation is [bɹaʊn].
What does "brown" mean?
As an adjective, "brown" means: von brauner Farbe
What words are commonly confused with "brown"?
"brown" is commonly confused with "brun", "bon", "bro". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "brown"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brown" is [bɹaʊn]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "brown" come from?
"brown" is a German 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.

Using “brown”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct German spelling is B-R-O-W-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as [bɹaʊn] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “brun” - see the side-by-side comparison. brown vs brun
  • Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list