brotherhood

Name: brotherhood, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd/

//ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“brotherhood” has 17 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,900. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,900
frequency rank, English: 31,241
“B” headwords: 17
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state of being brothers or a brother (also figuratively).

Key facts for brotherhood
Property	Value
Headword	brotherhood
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd/
Letters	11
Frequency rank	#8,900
Misspellings tracked	17
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brotherhood” 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). brotherhood lands here:

#8,900

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

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

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around brotherhood (IPA /ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,900 among 31,241 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for brotherhood, with forms such as "bbrotherhood", "bortherhood", and "brohterhood". 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. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English brotherhod, equivalent to brother + -hood, from earlier brotherhede, alteration (influenced by suffixes in -hood, -head) of Early Middle English brotherrede (“brotherhood, fraternity”), from Old English brōþorrǣden (“brotherhood, fellows… The correct English form is brotherhood, spelled B-R-O-T-H-E-R-H-O-O-D.

Definition

1
The state of being brothers or a brother (also figuratively).
2
An association of people for any purpose, such as a society of monks; a fraternity.
3
All the people engaged in the same business, especially those of the same profession
4
People, or (poetically) things, of the same kind.

Etymology

From Middle English brotherhod, equivalent to brother + -hood, from earlier brotherhede, alteration (influenced by suffixes in -hood, -head) of Early Middle English brotherrede (“brotherhood, fraternity”), from Old English brōþorrǣden (“brotherhood, fellowship”), equivalent to brother + -red (see brotherred). More at brother, -red. Piecewise doublet of friarhood.

Synonyms

fraternity association fellowship sodality brethren brolationship brotherhood brotherness brothership confraternity

Antonyms

irrelationshipnon-fraternity

This word in other languages

fraternidad(Español)fraternité(Français)Bruderschaft(Deutsch)irmandade(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

bbrotherhood
bortherhood
brohterhood
brotehrhood
brothehrood
brotherhhood
brotherhod
brotherhodo
brotherhoodd
brotherohod
brotherrhood
brothherhood
brothrehood
brottherhood
brrotherhood
brtoherhood
rbotherhood

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brotherhood - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "brotherhood"

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 "brotherhood"?

"brotherhood" is spelled B-R-O-T-H-E-R-H-O-O-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd/.

What does "brotherhood" mean?

As a noun, "brotherhood" means: The state of being brothers or a brother (also figuratively).

What are common misspellings of "brotherhood"?

Common misspellings include "bbrotherhood", "bortherhood", "brohterhood", "brotehrhood", "brothehrood". The correct spelling is "brotherhood".

How do you pronounce "brotherhood"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brotherhood" is /ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd/. 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 "brotherhood"?

From Middle English brotherhod, equivalent to brother + -hood, from earlier brotherhede, alteration (influenced by suffixes in -hood, -head) of Early Middle English brotherrede (“brotherhood, fraternity”), from Old English brōþorrǣden (“brotherhoo... 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 “brotherhood”

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-H-O-O-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Say it as /ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Same frequency band

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.