breadth

/bɹɛdθ/

//bɹɛdθ// noun

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

"breadth" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“breadth” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,579. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,579
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The extent or measure of how broad or wide something is; width.

Corpus desk

Index EN-breadth · breadth · English

breadth · rank #15,579 · 11 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #15,579
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bullies

Nearest frequency peer: bullies (+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 “breadth”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “breadth” 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).

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
PropertyValue
Headwordbreadth
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɹɛdθ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#15,579
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “breadth”

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).breadthlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “bullies” (#15,580), “blurred” (#15,577), “buster” (#15,581). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “breadth” is #15,579. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around breadth (IPA /bɹɛdθ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,579 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

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

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The breadth of the corridor is 4.5 metres.
  2. The sledges of the Esquimaux are of large size, varying from six and a half to nine and even eleven feet in length, and from eighteen inches to two feet in breadth.

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

widthextentrangescopesize

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.

bbreadth1beradth2braedth2breaddth1breadht2breadthh1breadtth1breatdh2
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"?
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 Br... 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 "breadth", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bullies#15,580blurred#15,577blinded#15,576cascade#15,582

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

benches11 variantsconcord11 variantsaperture11 variantswrestle11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list