broil

/bɹɔɪl/

//bɹɔɪl// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"broil" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“broil” is uncommon English (frequency #56,636 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,636
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To cook by direct, radiant heat.

Corpus desk

Index EN-broil · broil · English

broil · rank #56,636 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,636
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH brimmed

Nearest frequency peer: brimmed (-2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “broil”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “broil” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for broil
PropertyValue
Headwordbroil
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/bɹɔɪl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#56,636
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “broil” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).broilfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “brimmed” (#56,634), “bromine” (#56,638), “Brigid” (#56,633). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “broil” is #56,636. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

broil is uncommon English at frequency #56,636 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /bɹɔɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for broil, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English broylen, brulen (“to broil, cook”), from Anglo-Norman bruiller, broiller (“to broil, roast”), Old French brusler, bruller (“to broil, roast, char”), a blend of two Old French verbs: * bruir (“to burn”), from Frankish *brōjan (“to burn, s… The correct English form is broil, spelled B-R-O-I-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    To cook by direct, radiant heat.
  2. 2
    To expose to great heat.
  3. 3
    To be exposed to great heat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how broil appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. To broil a pigeon. When you broil them, do them in the same manner, and take care your fire is very clear, and set your gridiron high, that they may not burn, and have a little parsley and butter in a cup. You may split them, and broil them with a little pepper and salt, and you may roast them only with a little parsley and butter in a dish.
  2. To broil Red Mullet. Neither seale nor gut your mullet, wipe them very clean in a cloth, butter half a sheet of writing paper for each fish, put them in, and fasten it all round; have a very clear fire, broil them very gently for twenty minutes, hen put them in a dish, with anchovy sauce and plain butter in boats.

Etymology

From Middle English broylen, brulen (“to broil, cook”), from Anglo-Norman bruiller, broiller (“to broil, roast”), Old French brusler, bruller (“to broil, roast, char”), a blend of two Old French verbs: * bruir (“to burn”), from Frankish *brōjan (“to burn, scald”) * usler (“to scorch”), from Latin ustulō (“to scorch”)

This word in other languages

gratinar(Español)griller(Français)braten(Deutsch)gratinar(Português)

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

How do you spell "broil"?
"broil" is spelled B-R-O-I-L. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹɔɪl/.
What does "broil" mean?
As a verb, "broil" means: To cook by direct, radiant heat.
How do you pronounce "broil"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "broil" is /bɹɔɪl/. 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 "broil"?
From Middle English broylen, brulen (“to broil, cook”), from Anglo-Norman bruiller, broiller (“to broil, roast”), Old French brusler, bruller (“to broil, roast, char”), a blend of two Old French verbs: * bruir (“to burn”), from Frankish *brōjan (“... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "broil", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Carli#56,651Benjy#56,613chowk#56,662Cilla#56,664

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list