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breeze

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "breeze", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "breeze" 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 "breeze" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

breeze is aEnglishnoun. It means: A light, gentle wind. Pronounced /bɹiːz/. It ranks #8,761 in English word frequency. Often confused with bronze and breezy.

Key facts for breeze
PropertyValue
Headwordbreeze
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɹiːz/
Letters6
Frequency rank#8,761
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of breeze in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for breeze is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹiːz/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,761 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for breeze, with forms such as "bbreeze", "bereze", and "breeez". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 9 confusable-pair relationships, "bronze", "breezy", "breezes", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the earlier (nautical) term brise, brize (“breeze”), from Middle English brees (“wind”). Ultimate origin obscure. Variously supposed to derive from a Germanic source like Saterland Frisian Briese (“breeze”), West Frisian brys (“a cool wind”), Dutch bri… 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 breeze, spelled B-R-E-E-Z-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A light, gentle wind.
  2. 2
    Any activity that is easy, not testing or difficult.
  3. 3
    Wind blowing across a cricket match, whatever its strength.
  4. 4
    An excited or ruffled state of feeling; a flurry of excitement; a disturbance; a quarrel.
  5. 5
    A brief workout for a racehorse.

Etymology

From the earlier (nautical) term brise, brize (“breeze”), from Middle English brees (“wind”). Ultimate origin obscure. Variously supposed to derive from a Germanic source like Saterland Frisian Briese (“breeze”), West Frisian brys (“a cool wind”), Dutch bries (“breeze”), early Dutch brysen (“to blow cool and fresh”), or from Spanish brisa (“northeast wind”). The earliest attestations are in Middle English brees (1460), Catalan brisa, and Italian brezza (all in 15th century), with Spanish (1504) and Portuguese briza (16th century) following closely after. The aforementioned Dutch cognates and French brise, however, are attested later than the term in English. The only internal hypothesis for any of those languages is a modification of Old Occitan bisa (“strong wind”), which is not widely accepted. Compare also Albanian breshër (“hail”).

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbreeze,bereze,breeez,breezze,breze,brezee,brreeze,rbeeze

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for breeze

Misspelling Variants of "breeze"

bbreeze7bereze6breeez6breezze7breze5brezee6brreeze7rbeeze6
Misspelling Variants of "breeze"

Frequency rank: #8,761 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "breeze"?
"breeze" is spelled B-R-E-E-Z-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹiːz/.
What does "breeze" mean?
As a noun, "breeze" means: A light, gentle wind.
What words are commonly confused with "breeze"?
"breeze" is commonly confused with "bronze", "breezy", "breezes". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "breeze"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "breeze" is /bɹiːz/. 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 "breeze"?
From the earlier (nautical) term brise, brize (“breeze”), from Middle English brees (“wind”). Ultimate origin obscure. Variously supposed to derive from a Germanic source like Saterland Frisian Briese (“breeze”), West Frisian brys (“a cool wind”),... 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.