brethren
/ˈbɹɛðɹən/noun, adjective
brethren is spelled B-R-E-T-H-R-E-N. The wrong spelling people search most is bretheren: about 180 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Brethren is a noun meaning “kinsmen”.
How many letters and syllables are in brethren?
| Letters | 8: B-R-E-T-H-R-E-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,731st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, bretheren, about 180 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
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).
How do you spell brethren?
Brethren is spelled B-R-E-T-H-R-E-N. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 2 in 10 of the searches for brethren in either form.
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). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is brethren?
Brethren appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st 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 brethren?
- /ˈbɹɛðɹən/
Brethren has 2 syllables (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-brethren.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-brethren.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of brethren
- more brethren comparative
- most brethren superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brethren mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
archaicplural of brother
- 2
kinsmen
- 3
The body of members, especially of a fraternal, religious or military order.
adjective
- 1
Of or akin to; related; like
noun
- 1
Members of any congregation in the Anabaptist tradition of the Schwarzenau Brethren, practicing credobaptism and committed to nonresistance and nonviolence, some of whom may wear plain dress and shun modern technology.
- 2
Members of the Church of the Brethren.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Brethren in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense the body of members:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | confrérie, confrères, frères |
| German | Brüder, Brüdergemeinschaft |
| Portuguese | confraria, confrades, irmãos |
| Spanish | hermanos, camaradas, correligionarios, cofrades, cofradía, hermandad |
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 brethren come from?
From Early Modern English brethren, plural of brother, from Middle English brethren, from Middle English brethere, brether + -en (plural ending). Ultimately from Old English brōþor, brōþru (“brothers, brethren”), influenced by Old English brēþer, dative singular of brōþor (“brother”). Equivalent to brother + -en (plural ending). Compare German Brüder (“brothers, brethren”). More at brother. The vowel change (from o to e) is called umlaut.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).