# breeder

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbɹiːdɚ/ · frequency rank #18,258

## Definitions
1. A person who breeds plants or animals (professionally).
2. Ellipsis of breeder reactor, a type of nuclear reactor that creates more fissile material than it consumes, often used for the production of atomic weapons.
3. A pattern that exhibits quadratic growth by generating multiple copies of a secondary pattern, each of which then generates multiple copies of a tertiary pattern.
4. A person who has had or who is capable of having children; a person who is focussed on the rearing of their own children.
5. A heterosexual person; one whose sexual intercourse can lead to breeding; straggot.
6. A 40-gallon fish tank, sometimes used to breed fish that is low in height and wide in length, typically measuring 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 16 inches high, making it and shallower than a typical 40-gallon aquarium.

## Etymology
From breed + -er. Cognate with West Frisian brieder (“one who breeds, breeder”), Dutch broeier (“brooder, vagrant”).

## Easily confused with
- **breeze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breeder-vs-breeze)
- **breeds** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breeder-vs-breeds)
- **brewer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breeder-vs-brewer)
- **Bremer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breeder-vs-bremer)
- **broader** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breeder-vs-broader)
- **Brenner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breeder-vs-brenner)
- **breezes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breeder-vs-breezes)
- **breed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breed-vs-breeder)
- **bender** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bender-vs-breeder)
- **breaker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/breaker-vs-breeder)
- **blender** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/blender-vs-breeder)

## Common misspellings (10)
`bbreeder`, `bereder`, `bredeer`, `breder`, `breedder`, `breederr`, `breedre`, `breeedr`, `brreeder`, `rbeeder`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/breeder