BRCA1

/ˌbrækəˈwʌn/

//ˌbrækəˈwʌn// noun

"brca1" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“BRCA1” is uncommon English (frequency #58,560 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,560
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A human tumor suppressor gene associated with breast cancer.

Corpus desk

Index EN-brca1 · BRCA1 · English

BRCA1 · rank #58,560 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,560
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH borderless

Nearest frequency peer: borderless (-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 “BRCA1”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “BRCA1” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for BRCA1
PropertyValue
HeadwordBRCA1
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌbrækəˈwʌn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#58,560
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “BRCA1” 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).BRCA1falls 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: “borderless” (#58,559), “breaded” (#58,561), “Bonney” (#58,558). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “BRCA1” is #58,560. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

BRCA1 is uncommon English at frequency #58,560 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌbrækəˈwʌn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A human tumor suppressor gene associated with breast cancer.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for BRCA1, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is BRCA1, spelled B-R-C-A-1.

Definition

  1. 1
    A human tumor suppressor gene associated with breast cancer.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how BRCA1 appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I have always told them not to worry, but the truth is I carry a “faulty” gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

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 "BRCA1"?
"BRCA1" is spelled B-R-C-A-1. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌbrækəˈwʌn/.
What does "BRCA1" mean?
As a noun, "BRCA1" means: A human tumor suppressor gene associated with breast cancer.
How do you pronounce "BRCA1"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "BRCA1" is /ˌbrækəˈwʌn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "BRCA1" come from?
"BRCA1" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "BRCA1", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list