brotherly

/ˈbɹʌð.ə.li/

//ˈbɹʌð.ə.li// adj

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

"brotherly" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brotherly” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #31,886. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#31,886
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or characteristic of brothers.

Corpus desk

Index EN-brotherly · brotherly · English

brotherly · rank #31,886 · 15 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #31,886
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bronchitis

Nearest frequency peer: bronchitis (-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 “brotherly”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “brotherly” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

brotherly vs brothers
78% similar
brotherly vs brother
78% similar
brotherly vs brothel
78% similar

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

Key facts for brotherly
PropertyValue
Headwordbrotherly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈbɹʌð.ə.li/
Letters9
Frequency rank#31,886
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “brotherly”

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).brotherlylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “bronchitis” (#31,885), “buffering” (#31,887), “bugle” (#31,888). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “brotherly” is #31,886. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around brotherly (IPA /ˈbɹʌð.ə.li/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #31,886 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Of or characteristic of brothers.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for brotherly, with forms such as "bbrotherly", "bortherly", and "brohterly". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "brothers", "brother", "brothel", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English brotherly, from Old English brōþorlīċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōþurlīkaz, equivalent to brother + -ly (adjectival suffix). Cognate with Dutch broederlijk (“brotherly”), German brüderlich (“brotherly”), Swedish broderlig (“brotherly”). Pie… The correct English form is brotherly, spelled B-R-O-T-H-E-R-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or characteristic of brothers.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. brotherly love
  2. Do not despair. To be friendless is indeed to be unfortunate, but the hearts of men, when unprejudiced by any obvious self-interest, are full of brotherly love and charity.

Etymology

From Middle English brotherly, from Old English brōþorlīċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōþurlīkaz, equivalent to brother + -ly (adjectival suffix). Cognate with Dutch broederlijk (“brotherly”), German brüderlich (“brotherly”), Swedish broderlig (“brotherly”). Piecewise doublet of friarly.

This word in other languages

fraternal(Español)fraternel(Français)brüderlich(Deutsch)fraterno(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbrotherly
  • bortherly
  • brohterly
  • brotehrly
  • brothelry
  • brotherlly
  • brotherlyy
  • brotherrly
  • brotheryl
  • brothherly
  • brothrely
  • brottherly
  • brrotherly
  • brtoherly
  • rbotherly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brotherly - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bbrotherly1bortherly2brohterly2brotehrly2brothelry2brotherlly1brotherlyy1brotherrly1
Edit distance from "brotherly"

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 "brotherly"?
"brotherly" is spelled B-R-O-T-H-E-R-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɹʌð.ə.li/.
What does "brotherly" mean?
As an adjective, "brotherly" means: Of or characteristic of brothers.
What words are commonly confused with "brotherly"?
"brotherly" is commonly confused with "brothers", "brother", "brothel". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "brotherly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brotherly" is /ˈbɹʌð.ə.li/. 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 "brotherly"?
From Middle English brotherly, from Old English brōþorlīċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōþurlīkaz, equivalent to brother + -ly (adjectival suffix). Cognate with Dutch broederlijk (“brotherly”), German brüderlich (“brotherly”), Swedish broderlig (“brothe... 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 "brotherly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

buffering#31,887bumblebee#31,889bookshelf#31,880Callaghan#31,897

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

congregate15 variantsWadsworth15 variantsunfulfilled15 variantsfavourably15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list