brae
/bɹeɪ/
"brae" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“brae” is uncommon English (frequency #57,258 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,258
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The sloping bank of a river valley.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | brae |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɹeɪ/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #57,258 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “brae” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
brae is uncommon English at frequency #57,258 among 31,241 “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
- 1The sloping bank of a river valley.
- 2Any hillside or slope.
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
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Using “brae”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-A-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɹeɪ/ (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.