breakdown
/ˈbɹeɪkdaʊn/
Detailed reference entry for the English word "breakdown", 9-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Wiktionary, and usage frequency ranked against an open word-frequency list covering the top 100,000 English words. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "breakdown" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "breakdown" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
The verdict
“breakdown” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,028 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,028
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) — A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.
Compare similar words
See how breakdown compares against similar English words.
Browse all word comparisons →| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | breakdown |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɹeɪkdaʊn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #6,028 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “breakdown” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for breakdown is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɹeɪkdaʊn/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,028 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for breakdown, with forms such as "bbreakdown", "berakdown", and "braekdown". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Deverbal from break down. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is breakdown, spelled B-R-E-A-K-D-O-W-N, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.
- 2A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature.
- 3Something, such as a vehicle, that has experienced a mechanical failure.
- 4Separation of a thing into components; decomposition, fragmentation; (countable) an instance of this.
- 5Separation of a thing into components; decomposition, fragmentation; (countable) an instance of this.
- 6Separation of a thing into components; decomposition, fragmentation; (countable) an instance of this.
- 7A failure in a relationship; a failure or loss of organization in a system.
- 8(Sudden) worsening of physical health or (more commonly) mental stability, resulting in an inability to carry on normal activities; (countable) an instance of this.
- 9Injury to a horse's leg causing lameness; (countable) an instance of this.
- 10The short period of open play immediately after a tackle and before and during the ensuing ruck.
- 11An act of splitting logs of wood using a large saw in a sawmill; also, the saw used; or (rare) the building in which the process is carried out.
- 12A part of a piece of music or a song which differs from the other parts in that it features improvisation or is stripped down (for example, played by fewer instruments or a solo performer).
- 13Synonym of percussion break (“a percussion-focused segment of a song, chosen by a hip-hop DJ to manipulate through cutting, mixing, and other techniques in order to create rhythmic music”).
- 14A section of a song, typical in hardcore music and related styles (such as metalcore, grindcore, and deathcore), characterized by a lower tempo and greater heaviness and intensity of sound.
- 15A noisy, rapid, shuffling dance engaged in competitively by a number of individuals or pairs in succession, common among African-Americans from the Southern United States; also, a lively event, chiefly in a rural setting, at which such dancing is done; a hoedown, a shindig.
- 16A piece of music played for such a dance, especially a rapid bluegrass tune featuring a five-string banjo.
- 17An act of a structure or other thing breaking and collapsing.
Etymology
Deverbal from break down.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbreakdown,berakdown,braekdown,breadkown,breakddown,breakdonw,breakdownn,breakdowwn,breakdwon,breakkdown,breakodwn,brekadown,brreakdown,rbeakdown
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of breakdown - 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 "breakdown"
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.
Cite this page
Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY-SA). Copy the citation:
PlainSpell, “breakdown, English word data” (May 6, 2026). Derived from Wiktionary (kaikki.org, CC BY-SA) and an open word-frequency list. https://plainspell.com/en/word/breakdown
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Using “breakdown”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-E-A-K-D-O-W-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɹeɪkdaʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index: