brotherhood

/ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd/

//ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd// noun

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

"brotherhood" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

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
4,121
“B” headwords
17
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The state of being brothers or a brother (also figuratively).

Corpus desk

Index EN-brotherhood · brotherhood · English

brotherhood · rank #8,900 · 17 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,900
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH Brighton

Nearest frequency peer: Brighton (-1 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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “brotherhood”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “brotherhood” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for brotherhood
PropertyValue
Headwordbrotherhood
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɹʌð.ɚˌhʊd/
Letters11
Frequency rank#8,900
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “brotherhood”

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).brotherhoodlands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “Brighton” (#8,899), “Buddhist” (#8,901), “bra” (#8,898). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “brotherhood” is #8,900. 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 4,121 “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. 1
    The state of being brothers or a brother (also figuratively).
  2. 2
    An association of people for any purpose, such as a society of monks; a fraternity.
  3. 3
    All the people engaged in the same business, especially those of the same profession
  4. 4
    People, or (poetically) things, of the same kind.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "Read lips: Without gas or without you? Without you. Without light or without you? Without you. Without water or without you? Without you. Without food or without you? Without you. "Cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as terrible and deadly for us as your "friendship and brotherhood."
  2. James formed a kind of brotherhood for ex-pats who were working in Valencia.

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

fraternityassociationfellowshipsodalitybrethrenbrolationshipbrotherhoodbrothernessbrothershipconfraternity

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.

bbrotherhood1bortherhood2brohterhood2brotehrhood2brothehrood2brotherhhood1brotherhod1brotherhodo2
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

compilation#8,912devastating#8,920sovereignty#8,860incorporate#8,947

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

accompanying17 variantsproposition17 variantsstretching17 variantsatmospheric17 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list