braise

/bɹeɪz/

//bɹeɪz// noun

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

"braise" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“braise” is uncommon English (frequency #93,492 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#93,492
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative spelling of braze.

Corpus desk

Index EN-braise · braise · English

braise · rank #93,492 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #93,492
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH braes

Nearest frequency peer: braes (-2 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 “braise”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for braise
PropertyValue
Headwordbraise
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɹeɪz/
Letters6
Frequency rank#93,492
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “braise” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).braisefalls 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: “braes” (#93,490), “botrytis” (#93,488), “bricklaying” (#93,497). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “braise” is #93,492. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

braise is uncommon English at frequency #93,492 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /bɹeɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for braise, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French braise (“live coals”) and braiser (“to braise”, from the noun), from Old French brese (“embers”), from Old Low Franconian/Old Dutch; akin to Norwegian/Swedish braseld (“sparkling fire”), Norwegian/Swedish dialectal brasa (“to roast”), Danish dia… The correct English form is braise, spelled B-R-A-I-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of braze.
  2. 2
    A dish (usually meat) prepared by braising.
  3. 3
    A sauce used for braising.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Pot roast is typically a braise, as is osso buco.
  2. Braised cabbage is cooked in a braise of sliced bacon, one or two thickly sliced onions, one or two sliced carrots, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf, and stock to nearly cover.

Etymology

From French braise (“live coals”) and braiser (“to braise”, from the noun), from Old French brese (“embers”), from Old Low Franconian/Old Dutch; akin to Norwegian/Swedish braseld (“sparkling fire”), Norwegian/Swedish dialectal brasa (“to roast”), Danish dialectal brase (“to flambé, enflame”). Perhaps from Gothic *𐌱𐍂𐌰𐍃𐌰 (*brasa, “glowing coal”), from Proto-Germanic *brasō (“gleed, crackling coal”), Proto-Indo-European *bʰres- (“to crack, break, burst”). Cognate with Icelandic brasa (“to harden by fire”). See burst.

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 "braise"?
"braise" is spelled B-R-A-I-S-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹeɪz/.
What does "braise" mean?
As a noun, "braise" means: Alternative spelling of braze.
How do you pronounce "braise"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "braise" is /bɹeɪz/. 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 "braise"?
From French braise (“live coals”) and braiser (“to braise”, from the noun), from Old French brese (“embers”), from Old Low Franconian/Old Dutch; akin to Norwegian/Swedish braseld (“sparkling fire”), Norwegian/Swedish dialectal brasa (“to roast”), ... 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 "braise", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

boffin#93,481burgle#93,508Bekele#93,453Bedoya#93,452

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list