brother-german

noun

"brother-german" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brother-german” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A full brother: a brother born to the same mother and father, as distinguished from half brothers (uterine brothers), step-brothers, or 'brothers' established through relationships such as wardship.

Key facts for brother-german
PropertyValue
Headwordbrother-german
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brother-german” sits in English frequency

brother-german falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

brother-german is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A full brother: a brother born to the same mother and father, as distinguished from half brothers (uterine brothers), step-brothers, or 'brothers' established through relationships such as wardship.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for brother-german, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English brother germain, equivalent to brother + german, after Anglo-Norman and Middle French frere germain and its etymon Classical Latin frāter germānus. The correct English form is brother-german, spelled B-R-O-T-H-E-R---G-E-R-M-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A full brother: a brother born to the same mother and father, as distinguished from half brothers (uterine brothers), step-brothers, or 'brothers' established through relationships such as wardship.

Etymology

From Middle English brother germain, equivalent to brother + german, after Anglo-Norman and Middle French frere germain and its etymon Classical Latin frāter germānus.

Synonyms

full brotherfull-brother

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "brother-german"?
"brother-german" is spelled B-R-O-T-H-E-R---G-E-R-M-A-N.
What does "brother-german" mean?
As a noun, "brother-german" means: A full brother: a brother born to the same mother and father, as distinguished from half brothers (uterine brothers), step-brothers, or 'brothers' established through relationships such as wardship.
What is the origin of the word "brother-german"?
From Middle English brother germain, equivalent to brother + german, after Anglo-Norman and Middle French frere germain and its etymon Classical Latin frāter germānus. 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 “brother-german”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is B-R-O-T-H-E-R---G-E-R-M-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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