breadth

Name: breadth, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/bɹɛdθ/

//bɹɛdθ// noun

By PlainSpell Editorial Team · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“breadth” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,579 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#15,579
frequency rank, English: 7
letters: 11
tracked misspellings: 7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The extent or measure of how broad or wide something is; width.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

breadth vs breath

86% similar

breadth vs breast

71% similar

breadth vs breathe

71% similar

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

Key facts for breadth
Property	Value
Headword	breadth
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/bɹɛdθ/
Letters	7
Frequency rank	#15,579
Misspellings tracked	11
Confusable pairs	7
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “breadth” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). breadth lands here:

#15,579

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for breadth is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹɛdθ/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,579 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for breadth, with forms such as "bbreadth", "beradth", and "braedth". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "breath", "breast", "breathe", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bredthe, alteration (due to nouns ending in -th: length, strength, wrength, etc.) of brede ("breadth"; see bread). Equivalent to broad + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots bredth (“breadth”), Saterland Frisian Bratte (“bre… The correct English form is breadth, spelled B-R-E-A-D-T-H.

Definition

1
The extent or measure of how broad or wide something is; width.
2
A piece of fabric of standard width.
3
Scope or range, especially of knowledge or skill.
4
A style in painting in which details are strictly subordinated to the harmony of the whole composition.
5
The length of the longest path between two vertices in a graph.

Etymology

From Middle English bredthe, alteration (due to nouns ending in -th: length, strength, wrength, etc.) of brede ("breadth"; see bread). Equivalent to broad + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots bredth (“breadth”), Saterland Frisian Bratte (“breadth”), West Frisian breedte (“breadth”), Dutch breedte (“breadth”), German Low German Breddte, Breddt (“breadth”), German Breite (“breadth”), Danish bredde (“breadth”), Norwegian Bokmål bredde (“breadth”), Swedish bredd (“breadth”).

Synonyms

width extent range scope size

This word in other languages

Breite(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbreadth,beradth,braedth,breaddth,breadht,breadthh,breadtth,breatdh,bredath,brreadth,rbeadth

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of breadth - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "breadth"

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 "breadth"?

"breadth" is spelled B-R-E-A-D-T-H. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹɛdθ/.

What does "breadth" mean?

As a noun, "breadth" means: The extent or measure of how broad or wide something is; width.

What words are commonly confused with "breadth"?

"breadth" is commonly confused with "breath", "breast", "breathe". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "breadth"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "breadth" is /bɹɛdθ/. 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 "breadth"?

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.

Using “breadth”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

The one correct English spelling is B-R-E-A-D-T-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /bɹɛdθ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Don't mix it up with “breath” - see the side-by-side comparison. breadth vs breath
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.