# bracket

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbɹækɪt/ · frequency rank #9,018

## Definitions
1. A fixture attached to a wall to hold up a shelf.
2. Any intermediate object that connects a smaller part to a larger part, the smaller part typically projecting sideways from the larger part.
3. A short crooked timber, resembling a knee, used as a support.
4. The cheek or side of an ordnance carriage, supporting the trunnions.
5. Any of the characters “(”, “)”, “[”, “]”, “{”, “}”, “⟨”, “⟩”, “<”, “>”, or the like, used in pairs to enclose parenthetic remarks, sections of mathematical expressions, etc.
6. Any of the characters “(”, “)”, “[”, “]”, “{”, “}”, “⟨”, “⟩”, “<”, “>”, or the like, used in pairs to enclose parenthetic remarks, sections of mathematical expressions, etc.
7. A diagram of games in a tournament.
8. A prediction of the outcome of games in a tournament, used for betting purposes.
9. One of several ranges of numbers.
10. A pair of values that represent the smallest and largest elements of a range.
11. Typically of stationary weapons, the zone enclosed by one long and one short shot impact expected to be hit very accurately.
12. The small curved or angular corner formed by a serif and a stroke in a letter.
13. a mark cut into a stone by land surveyors to secure a bench.

## Etymology
From earlier bragget, *bracket, from Middle English *braget, *braket (attested in braket nail), from Old French braguette (“the opening in the fore part of a pair of breeches, one's fly”), a diminutive of Old French brague (“knickers, britches”), from Old Occitan braga, from Latin brāca (“pants”), from Transalpine Gaulish *brāca, from Proto-Germanic *brāks, an early form of Proto-Germanic *brōks (“leggings, breeches, trousers”).

## Easily confused with
- **brake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bracket-vs-brake)
- **bucket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bracket-vs-bucket)
- **brakes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bracket-vs-brakes)
- **brisket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bracket-vs-brisket)
- **brackets** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bracket-vs-brackets)
- **brace** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brace-vs-bracket)
- **backed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/backed-vs-bracket)
- **basket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/basket-vs-bracket)
- **braces** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braces-vs-bracket)
- **braced** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braced-vs-bracket)
- **backer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/backer-vs-bracket)
- **becket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/becket-vs-bracket)
- **blanket** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/blanket-vs-bracket)
- **blacked** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/blacked-vs-bracket)
- **bracken** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bracken-vs-bracket)
- **blacker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/blacker-vs-bracket)
- **bracelet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bracelet-vs-bracket)
- **blackest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/blackest-vs-bracket)

## Common misspellings (11)
`barcket`, `bbracket`, `braccket`, `bracekt`, `brackett`, `brackket`, `brackte`, `brakcet`, `brcaket`, `brracket`, `rbacket`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bracket