# brew

> English word · Verb · IPA /bɹuː/ · frequency rank #12,194

## Definitions
1. To make tea or coffee by mixing tea leaves or coffee beans with hot water.
2. To heat wine, infusing it with spices; to mull.
3. To make a hot soup by combining ingredients and boiling them in water.
4. To make beer by steeping a starch source in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast.
5. To foment or prepare, as by brewing.
6. To attend to the business, or go through the processes, of brewing or making beer.
7. To be in a state of preparation; to be mixing, forming, or gathering.
8. To boil or seethe; to cook.

## Etymology
From Middle English brewen, from Old English brēowan, from Proto-West Germanic *breuwan, from Proto-Germanic *brewwaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-. Doublet of burn.
Cognate with
Dutch brouwen, German brauen, Swedish brygga, Norwegian Bokmål brygge; also Ancient Greek φρέαρ (phréar, “well”), Latin fervēre (“to be hot; to burn; to boil”), Old Irish bruth (“violent, boiling heat”), Sanskrit भुर्वन् (bhurván, “motion of water”). It may be related to English barley.

## Easily confused with
- **BW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bw)
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bro)
- **bye** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bye)
- **BTW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-btw)
- **Bri** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bri)
- **bru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bru)
- **bros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bros)
- **Brit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brit)
- **brow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brow)
- **bruh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bruh)
- **brig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brig)
- **brie** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brie)
- **brim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brim)
- **Brom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brom)
- **Bryn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bryn)
- **bruv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bruv)
- **brin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brin)
- **brut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brut)
- **BRIC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-bric)
- **brown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brew-vs-brown)

## Common misspellings (6)
`bbrew`, `berw`, `breww`, `brrew`, `brwe`, `rbew`

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