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PlainSpell

breath

/bɹɛθ/noun, adjective

breath is spelled B-R-E-A-T-H: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “breath vs breathe” about 27,100 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, breath means “The act or process of breathing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of breath is breaths.

How many letters and syllables are in breath?

Letters6: B-R-E-A-T-H
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing33 times per million words; the 2,888th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is breath?

Breath appears 33 times per million words in written English, the 2,888th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce breath?

  • US /bɹɛθ/
  • US [bɹ̠ʷɛθ]
  • Australia /bɹeθ/

Breath has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-breath.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with breath

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

breath vs breathe27,100 G

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with breath?

No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as breath (/ɛθ/).

Spelled with the same letters in another order: bertha, bather.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of breath

  • breaths plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does breath mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    The act or process of breathing.

    I could hear the breath of the runner behind me.

  2. 2

    A single act of breathing in or out; a breathing of air.

    I took a deep breath and started the test.

  3. 3

    Air expelled from the lungs.

    I could feel the runner's breath on my shoulder.

  4. 4

    A rest or pause.

    Let's stop for a breath when we get to the top of the hill.

  5. 5

    A small amount of something, such as wind, or common sense.

    Even with all the windows open, there is hardly a breath of air in here.

  6. 6

    obsoleteFragrance; exhalation; odor; perfume.

  7. 7

    obsoleteGentle exercise, causing a quicker respiration.

adjective

  1. 1

    voiceless, surd; contrasting with voice (breath sounds, voice sounds)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Breath in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrespiration (act or process of breathing), souffle (single act of breathing in and out), haleine (air expelled from the lungs)
GermanAtmen, Atmung (act or process of breathing), Atemzug (single act of breathing in and out), Atem (air expelled from the lungs), Atempause (rest or pause)
Portugueserespiração, alento, fôlego (act or process of breathing), respiro (single act of breathing in and out), hálito (air expelled from the lungs)
Spanishrespiración, respiro, vaharada (act or process of breathing), aliento, hálito (single act of breathing in and out)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does breath come from?

From Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-West Germanic *brāþi (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after breath