brachytherapy

/ˌbɹækiˈθɛrəpi/

//ˌbɹækiˈθɛrəpi// noun

"brachytherapy" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brachytherapy” is uncommon English (frequency #89,180 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,180
frequency rank, English
31,241
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Radiotherapy using radioactive sources positioned within (or close to) the treatment volume, typically with radiopharmaceuticals as opposed to external-beam sources.

Key facts for brachytherapy
PropertyValue
Headwordbrachytherapy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌbɹækiˈθɛrəpi/
Letters13
Frequency rank#89,180
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brachytherapy” sits in English 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). brachytherapy lands here:

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

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

Rare enough to double-check

brachytherapy is uncommon English at frequency #89,180 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌbɹækiˈθɛrəpi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Radiotherapy using radioactive sources positioned within (or close to) the treatment volume, typically with radiopharmaceuticals as opposed to external-beam sources.".

brachytherapy has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short, not far off”) + θεραπεία (therapeía, “attendance, treatment, healing, service”); brachy- + therapy. The correct English form is brachytherapy, spelled B-R-A-C-H-Y-T-H-E-R-A-P-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Radiotherapy using radioactive sources positioned within (or close to) the treatment volume, typically with radiopharmaceuticals as opposed to external-beam sources.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short, not far off”) + θεραπεία (therapeía, “attendance, treatment, healing, service”); brachy- + therapy.

Synonyms

internal radiotherapysealed course radiotherapycurietherapyendocurietherapy

This word in other languages

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

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "brachytherapy"?
"brachytherapy" is spelled B-R-A-C-H-Y-T-H-E-R-A-P-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌbɹækiˈθɛrəpi/.
What does "brachytherapy" mean?
As a noun, "brachytherapy" means: Radiotherapy using radioactive sources positioned within (or close to) the treatment volume, typically with radiopharmaceuticals as opposed to external-beam sources.
How do you pronounce "brachytherapy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brachytherapy" is /ˌbɹækiˈθɛrəpi/. 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 "brachytherapy"?
From Ancient Greek βραχύς (brakhús, “short, not far off”) + θεραπεία (therapeía, “attendance, treatment, healing, service”); brachy- + therapy. 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.

Using “brachytherapy”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is B-R-A-C-H-Y-T-H-E-R-A-P-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˌbɹækiˈθɛrəpi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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