broach
/bɹəʊtʃ/
"broach" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“broach” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #45,824 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #45,824
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A series of chisel points mounted on one piece of steel. For example, the toothed stone chisel shown here.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | broach |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɹəʊtʃ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #45,824 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “broach” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for broach is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹəʊtʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #45,824 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for broach, with forms such as "bbroach", "borach", and "braoch". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "broad", "Brock", "broth", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *brokkos Gaulish *brokkosbor.? Vulgar Latin broccus Vulgar Latin brocca Old French brochebor. Middle English broche English broach From Middle English broche, from Old French broche, from Vulgar Latin *brocca, originally a femini… The correct English form is broach, spelled B-R-O-A-C-H.
Definition
- 1A series of chisel points mounted on one piece of steel. For example, the toothed stone chisel shown here.
- 2A broad chisel for stone-cutting.
- 3Alternative spelling of brooch.
- 4A spit for cooking food.
- 5An awl; a bodkin; also, a wooden rod or pin, sharpened at each end, used by thatchers.
- 6A spire rising from a tower.
- 7A spit-like start on the head of a young stag.
- 8The stick from which candle wicks are suspended for dipping.
- 9The pin in a lock which enters the barrel of the key.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *brokkos Gaulish *brokkosbor.? Vulgar Latin broccus Vulgar Latin brocca Old French brochebor. Middle English broche English broach From Middle English broche, from Old French broche, from Vulgar Latin *brocca, originally a feminine form of Latin broccus, perhaps ultimately of Gaulish origin (see Scottish Gaelic bròg). Doublet of brochure.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbroach,borach,braoch,broacch,broachh,broahc,brocah,brroach,rboach
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of broach - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “broach”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-O-A-C-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɹəʊtʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “broad” - see the side-by-side comparison. broach vs broad
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.