# braid

> English word · Verb · IPA /bɹeɪd/ · frequency rank #21,147

## Definitions
1. To make a sudden movement with, to jerk.
2. To start into motion.
3. To weave together, intertwine (strands of fibers, ribbons, etc.); to arrange (hair) in braids.
4. To mix, or make uniformly soft, by beating, rubbing, or straining, as in preparing food.
5. To reproach; to upbraid.

## Etymology
From Middle English braiden, breided, bræiden, from Old English breġdan (“to move quickly, pull, shake, swing, throw (wrestling), draw (sword), drag; bend, weave, braid, knit, join together; change color, vary, be transformed; bind, knot; move, be pulled; flash”), from Proto-West Germanic *bregdan, from Proto-Germanic *bregdaną (“to flicker, flutter, jerk, tug, twitch, flinch, move, swing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēḱ-, *bʰrēǵ- (“to shine, shimmer”).
Cognate with Scots Scots brade, Scots braid (“to move quickly or suddenly”), Saterland Frisian braidje (“to knit”), West Frisian breidzje, Dutch breien (“to knit”), Low German breiden, German breiden, Bavarian bretten (“to move quickly, twitch”), Icelandic bregða (“to move quickly, jerk”), Faroese bregða (“to move quickly, react swiftly; to draw (sword)”) and Faroese bregda (“to plaid, braid, twist, twine”).

## Easily confused with
- **Bri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-bri)
- **bred** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-bred)
- **Brit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brit)
- **brat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brat)
- **brig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brig)
- **bray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-bray)
- **bran** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-bran)
- **brie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brie)
- **brim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brim)
- **brin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brin)
- **BRIC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-bric)
- **brain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brain)
- **brand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brand)
- **broad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-broad)
- **bread** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-bread)
- **brave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brave)
- **breed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-breed)
- **bride** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-bride)
- **brass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brass)
- **brake** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/braid-vs-brake)

## Common misspellings (6)
`bbraid`, `bradi`, `braidd`, `briad`, `brraid`, `rbaid`

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