brood

/bɹuːd/

//bɹuːd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“brood” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,863 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#20,863
frequency rank, English
5
letters
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

brood vs bros
60% similar
brood vs brow
60% similar
brood vs brown
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for brood
PropertyValue
Headwordbrood
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bɹuːd/
Letters5
Frequency rank#20,863
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brood” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). brood lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for brood is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹuːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,863 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for brood, with forms such as "bbrood", "borod", and "brod". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bros", "brow", "brown", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English brood, brod, from Old English brōd (“brood; foetus; breeding, hatching”), from Proto-Germanic *brōduz (“heat, breeding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“breath, mist, vapour, steam”). The correct English form is brood, spelled B-R-O-O-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.
  2. 2
    The young of any egg-laying creature, especially if produced at the same time.
  3. 3
    The eggs and larvae of social insects such as bees, ants and some wasps, especially when gathered together in special brood chambers or combs within the colony.
  4. 4
    The children in one family; offspring.
  5. 5
    That which is bred or produced; breed; species.
  6. 6
    Parentage.
  7. 7
    Heavy waste in tin and copper ores.
  8. 8
    A large number or crowd of people, animals, or objects.

Etymology

From Middle English brood, brod, from Old English brōd (“brood; foetus; breeding, hatching”), from Proto-Germanic *brōduz (“heat, breeding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“breath, mist, vapour, steam”).

This word in other languages

cría(Español)couvée(Français)ninhada(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbrood,borod,brod,brodo,broodd,brrood,rbood

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brood - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbrood1borod2brod1brodo2broodd1brrood1rbood2
Edit distance from "brood"

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 "brood"?
"brood" is spelled B-R-O-O-D. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹuːd/.
What does "brood" mean?
As a noun, "brood" means: The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.
What words are commonly confused with "brood"?
"brood" is commonly confused with "bros", "brow", "brown". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "brood"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brood" is /bɹuːd/. 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 "brood"?
From Middle English brood, brod, from Old English brōd (“brood; foetus; breeding, hatching”), from Proto-Germanic *brōduz (“heat, breeding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“breath, mist, vapour, steam”). 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.

Using “brood”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-R-O-O-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /bɹuːd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “bros” - see the side-by-side comparison. brood vs bros
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list