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bladder

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

7 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "bladder", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "bladder" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "bladder" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

bladder is aEnglishnoun. It means: A flexible sac that can expand and contract and that holds liquids or gases. Pronounced /ˈblædə/. Often confused with blade and blades.

Key facts for bladder
PropertyValue
Headwordbladder
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈblædə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#12,551
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of bladder in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for bladder is 7 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈblædə/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,551 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for bladder, with forms such as "baldder", "bbladder", and "bladderr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "blade", "blades", "blazer", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bladdre, bleddre, bladder, bledder, from Old English blæddre, a variant of blǣdre, blēdre (“blister, bladder”), from Proto-West Germanic *blādrā, from Proto-Germanic *blēdrǭ, *bladrǭ (“blister, bladder”). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is bladder, spelled B-L-A-D-D-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A flexible sac that can expand and contract and that holds liquids or gases.
  2. 2
    Specifically, the urinary bladder.
  3. 3
    A hollow, inflatable organ of a plant.
  4. 4
    The inflatable bag inside various balls used in sports, such as footballs and rugby balls.
  5. 5
    A container in the form of a flexible bag.
  6. 6
    A container in the form of a flexible bag.
  7. 7
    Anything inflated, empty, or unsound.

Etymology

From Middle English bladdre, bleddre, bladder, bledder, from Old English blæddre, a variant of blǣdre, blēdre (“blister, bladder”), from Proto-West Germanic *blādrā, from Proto-Germanic *blēdrǭ, *bladrǭ (“blister, bladder”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: baldder,bbladder,bladderr,bladdre,bladedr,blader,bldader,blladder,lbadder

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for bladder

Misspelling Variants of "bladder"

baldder7bbladder8bladderr8bladdre7bladedr7blader6bldader7blladder8
Misspelling Variants of "bladder"

Frequency rank: #12,551 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bladder"?
"bladder" is spelled B-L-A-D-D-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈblædə/.
What does "bladder" mean?
As a noun, "bladder" means: A flexible sac that can expand and contract and that holds liquids or gases.
What words are commonly confused with "bladder"?
"bladder" is commonly confused with "blade", "blades", "blazer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bladder"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bladder" is /ˈblædə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bladder"?
From Middle English bladdre, bleddre, bladder, bledder, from Old English blæddre, a variant of blǣdre, blēdre (“blister, bladder”), from Proto-West Germanic *blādrā, from Proto-Germanic *blēdrǭ, *bladrǭ (“blister, bladder”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.