brail
/bɹeɪl/noun, verb
brail is spelled B-R-A-I-L: 5 letters. It appears about once in every 36 million words in written English, the 184,844th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, brail means “A small rope used to truss up sails” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of brail is brails.
How many letters and syllables are in brail?
| Letters | 5: B-R-A-I-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 36 million words; the 184,844th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is brail?
Brail appears about once in every 36 million words in written English, the 184,844th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce brail?
- /bɹeɪl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What rhymes with brail?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as brail.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: libra.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of brail
- brails plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- brailing participle, present
- brailed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brail mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small rope used to truss up sails.
- 2
A thong of soft leather to bind up a hawk's wing.
- 3
A stock at each end of a seine to keep it stretched.
- 4
A rope or line used to suspend lights or scenery in a certain position.
- 5
The feathers around a hawk's rump.
verb
- 1
To reef, shorten or strike sail using brails.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does brail come from?
From Middle English brayle, from Old French braiel, from Medieval Latin bracale (“girdle”) (from bracae (“breeches”)).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).