brothel
broth·el/ˈbɹɔθəl/noun
brothel is spelled B-R-O-T-H-E-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables (broth·el). It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, brothel means “A house of prostitution” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of brothel is brothels.
How many letters and syllables are in brothel?
| Letters | 7: B-R-O-T-H-E-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: broth·el |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,629th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is brothel?
Brothel appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,629th 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 brothel?
- US /ˈbɹɔθəl/
- US /ˈbɹɔðəl/
- UK /ˈbɹɒθəl/
Brothel has 2 syllables, split broth·el in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-brothel.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of brothel
- brothels plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brothel mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A house of prostitution.
- 2
obsoleteA wretch; a depraved or lewd person.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Brothel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense house of prostitution:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bordel, boxon, lupanar, maison close, maison de tolérance, privé |
| German | Bordell, Freudenhaus, Hurenhaus, Puff |
| Portuguese | bordel, lupanar, prostíbulo, putaria, puteiro, randevu |
| Spanish | prostíbulo, puticlub, bulín, burdel, lupanar, mancebía |
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 brothel come from?
Short for brothel-house (“house of prostitution”), from brothel (“a wretch; scoundrel; lecher; harlot; prostitute”) + house, influenced by bordel. For more on brothel (“a wretch”), see below.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).