brought

/bɹɔt/

//bɹɔt// verb

"brought" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brought” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #706 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#706
frequency rank, English
7
letters
11
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - simple past and past participle of bring

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

brought vs Broughton
67% similar
brought vs bough
71% similar
brought vs bought
86% similar

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

Key facts for brought
PropertyValue
Headwordbrought
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/bɹɔt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#706
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brought” 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). brought lands here:

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

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for brought is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹɔt/. Corpus data places it at rank #706 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "simple past and past participle of bring".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for brought, with forms such as "bbrought", "borught", and "broguht". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "Broughton", "bough", "bought", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is brought, spelled B-R-O-U-G-H-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    simple past and past participle of bring

Synonyms

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbrought,borught,broguht,brougght,broughht,broughtt,brougth,brouhgt,brrought,bruoght,rbought

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bbrought1borught2broguht2brougght1broughht1broughtt1brougth2brouhgt2
Edit distance from "brought"

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 "brought"?
"brought" is spelled B-R-O-U-G-H-T. The IPA pronunciation is /bɹɔt/.
What does "brought" mean?
As a verb, "brought" means: simple past and past participle of bring
What words are commonly confused with "brought"?
"brought" is commonly confused with "Broughton", "bough", "bought". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "brought"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brought" is /bɹɔt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "brought" come from?
"brought" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 “brought”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is B-R-O-U-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /bɹɔt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “Broughton” - see the side-by-side comparison. brought vs Broughton
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list