# brad

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɹad/ · frequency rank #5,861

## Definitions
1. A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin.
2. A paper fastener, a fastening device formed of thin, soft metal, such as shim brass, with a round head and a flat, split shank, which is spread after insertion in a hole in a stack of pages, in much the same way as a cotter pin or a split rivet.

## Etymology
Late Middle English brad, variant of brod(d), from Old Norse broddr (“spike, shaft”), from Proto-Germanic *bruzdaz (compare Old English brord, Old High German brort), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusdʰos (compare Welsh brath (“sting, prick”), Albanian bredh (“fir-tree”), Lithuanian bruzdùklis (“bridle”), Czech brzda (“brake”). Doublet of prod.

## Easily confused with
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bro)
- **bud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bud)
- **BRB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brb)
- **BSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bsa)
- **Bri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bri)
- **bru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bru)
- **bros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bros)
- **bred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bred)
- **brew** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brew)
- **Brit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brit)
- **brow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brow)
- **bruh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bruh)
- **brag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brag)
- **brat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brat)
- **brig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brig)
- **bray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bray)
- **bran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bran)
- **bree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-bree)
- **brie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brie)
- **brim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brad-vs-brim)

## Common misspellings (5)
`bbrad`, `bradd`, `brda`, `brrad`, `rbad`

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