breed

/bɹiːd/

//bɹiːd// verb

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

"breed" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“breed” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,213. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,213
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To produce offspring sexually; to bear young.

Corpus desk

Index EN-breed · breed · English

breed · rank #6,213 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,213
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bleeding

Nearest frequency peer: bleeding (-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 “breed”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “breed” 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).

breed vs brew
60% similar
breed vs brie
60% similar
breed vs bren
60% similar

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

Key facts for breed
PropertyValue
Headwordbreed
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/bɹiːd/
Letters5
Frequency rank#6,213
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “breed”

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

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “bleeding” (#6,212), “breeding” (#6,214), “beneficial” (#6,211). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “breed” is #6,213. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around breed (IPA /bɹiːd/), averb. Corpus frequency is #6,213 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for breed, with forms such as "bbreed", "bered", and "brede". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "brew", "brie", "bren", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“warm”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid, Saterland Frisian briede, West Frisian briede, Low German bröden, Dutch … The correct English form is breed, spelled B-R-E-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    To produce offspring sexually; to bear young.
  2. 2
    To give birth to; to be the native place of.
  3. 3
    To mate.
  4. 4
    To keep (animals) and have (them) reproduce in a way that improves the next generation's qualities.
  5. 5
    To arrange the mating of (specific animals).
  6. 6
    To propagate or grow (plants) in an effort to give (them) certain qualities.
  7. 7
    To take care of in infancy and through childhood; to bring up.
  8. 8
    To yield or result in.
  9. 9
    To be formed in the parent or dam; to be generated or to grow, like young before birth.
  10. 10
    To educate; to instruct; to bring up.
  11. 11
    To produce or obtain by any natural process.
  12. 12
    To have birth; to be produced, developed, or multiplied.
  13. 13
    To ejaculate inside (a person or a bodily orifice of same); to creampie.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better.
  2. A pond breeds fish.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“warm”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid, Saterland Frisian briede, West Frisian briede, Low German bröden, Dutch broeden, German brüten.

Synonyms

raisebring uprearcreampiecream

This word in other languages

criar(Español)se reproduire(Français)aufziehen(Deutsch)procriar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbreed
  • bered
  • brede
  • breedd
  • brreed
  • rbeed

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of breed - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbreed1bered2brede2breedd1brreed1rbeed2
Edit distance from "breed"

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 "breed"?
"breed" is spelled B-R-E-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹiːd/.
What does "breed" mean?
As a verb, "breed" means: To produce offspring sexually; to bear young.
What words are commonly confused with "breed"?
"breed" is commonly confused with "brew", "brie", "bren". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "breed"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "breed" is /bɹiːd/. 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 "breed"?
Inherited from Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“warm”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid, Saterland Frisian briede, West Frisian briede, Low German bröd... 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 "breed", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bride#6,215basin#6,210chick#6,223Dubai#6,231

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

bros6 variantswont6 variantsdump6 variantsskull6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list