brae

/bɹeɪ/

//bɹeɪ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"brae" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brae” is uncommon English (frequency #57,258 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,258
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The sloping bank of a river valley.

Corpus desk

Index EN-brae · brae · English

brae · rank #57,258 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,258
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH Boylston

Nearest frequency peer: Boylston (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “brae”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “brae” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for brae
PropertyValue
Headwordbrae
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɹeɪ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#57,258
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “brae” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).braefalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Boylston” (#57,257), “brawler” (#57,259), “Brenna” (#57,260). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “brae” is #57,258. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

brae is uncommon English at frequency #57,258 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /bɹeɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for brae in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bro, bra (“bank of a stream; raised edge of a ditch or pit”), from Old Norse brá (“eyebrow; eyelash”) (probably in the sense of the brow of a hill), from Proto-Germanic *brēwō (“eyebrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“eyebrow”). … The correct English form is brae, spelled B-R-A-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The sloping bank of a river valley.
  2. 2
    Any hillside or slope.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how brae appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Was it not Wat the Devil, who drove all the year-old hogs off the braes of Lanthorn-side, in the very recent days of my grandfather's father?
  2. Ye banks, and braes, and ſtreams around / The caſtle of Montgomery, / Green be your woods, and fair your flowers, / Your waters never drumlie!

Etymology

From Middle English bro, bra (“bank of a stream; raised edge of a ditch or pit”), from Old Norse brá (“eyebrow; eyelash”) (probably in the sense of the brow of a hill), from Proto-Germanic *brēwō (“eyebrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“eyebrow”). The English word is cognate with Old English brǣw, brēaw (“eyelid”), Old High German brāwa (Middle High German brā, modern German Braue (“eyebrow”)), Old Saxon brāwa, brāha (“eyebrow; eyelash”); and is a doublet of bree (“(Scotland) brow; forehead; (obsolete or dialectal, Scotland) eyebrow; eyelid”) and brow.

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 "brae"?
"brae" is spelled B-R-A-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹeɪ/.
What does "brae" mean?
As a noun, "brae" means: The sloping bank of a river valley.
How do you pronounce "brae"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brae" is /bɹeɪ/. 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 "brae"?
From Middle English bro, bra (“bank of a stream; raised edge of a ditch or pit”), from Old Norse brá (“eyebrow; eyelash”) (probably in the sense of the brow of a hill), from Proto-Germanic *brēwō (“eyebrow”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“e... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "brae", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bonk#57,253Bunn#57,265burl#57,268bagh#57,228

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list