breach

/bɹiːtʃ/

//bɹiːtʃ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“breach” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,764. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,764
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence.

Corpus desk

Index EN-breach · breach · English

breach · rank #5,764 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,764
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH boundary

Nearest frequency peer: boundary (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “breach”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “breach” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

breach vs break
67% similar
breach vs bread
67% similar
breach vs bream
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for breach
PropertyValue
Headwordbreach
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɹiːtʃ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,764
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “breach”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).breachlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “boundary” (#5,763), “cabin” (#5,765), “bend” (#5,762). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “breach” is #5,764. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around breach (IPA /bɹiːtʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,764 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for breach, with forms such as "bbreach", "berach", and "braech". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "break", "bread", "bream", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”). The correct English form is breach, spelled B-R-E-A-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence.
  2. 2
    The act of breaking, in a figurative sense.
  3. 3
    A breaking or infraction of a law, or of any obligation or tie; violation; non-fulfillment.
  4. 4
    A breaking up of amicable relations, a falling out.
  5. 5
    A difference in opinions, social class, etc.
  6. 6
    A breaking of waters, as over a vessel or a coastal defence; the waters themselves.
  7. 7
    A breaking out upon; an assault.
  8. 8
    A bruise; a wound.
  9. 9
    A hernia; a rupture.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead."
  2. Services between Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley via Falkirk High are currently suspended, following a 30-metre breach of the Union Canal that occurred on August 12 after torrential rain and thunderstorms. The thousands of gallons of water that cascaded onto the railway line below washed away track, ballast and overhead line equipment, and und…

Etymology

From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”).

Synonyms

breakgapriftrupture

This word in other languages

brecha(Español)brèche(Français)Bruch(Deutsch)brecha(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbreach
  • berach
  • braech
  • breacch
  • breachh
  • breahc
  • brecah
  • brreach
  • rbeach

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of breach - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bbreach1berach2braech2breacch1breachh1breahc2brecah2brreach1
Edit distance from "breach"

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 "breach"?
"breach" is spelled B-R-E-A-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹiːtʃ/.
What does "breach" mean?
As a noun, "breach" means: A gap or opening made by breaking or battering, as in a wall, fortification or levee / embankment; the space between the parts of a solid body rent by violence.
What words are commonly confused with "breach"?
"breach" is commonly confused with "break", "bread", "bream". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "breach"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "breach" is /bɹiːtʃ/. 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 "breach"?
From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”). 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 "breach", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

cheers#5,768closet#5,770trauma#5,747dishes#5,783

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

acquire9 variantsdozens9 variantsteenage9 variantsSyrian9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list