browse
/bɹaʊz/
"browse" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“browse” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,109 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #13,109
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To scan, to casually look through in order to find items of interest, especially without knowledge of what to look for beforehand.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | browse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bɹaʊz/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #13,109 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “browse” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for browse is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹaʊz/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,109 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for browse, with forms such as "bbrowse", "borwse", and "broswe". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bruise", "browser", "browsers", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English browsen, from Old French brouster, broster (“to nibble off buds, sprouts, and bark; browse”), from brost (“a sprout, shoot, bud”), from a Germanic source, perhaps Frankish *brust (“shoot, bud”), from Proto-Germanic *brustiz (“bud, shoot”… The correct English form is browse, spelled B-R-O-W-S-E.
Definition
- 1To scan, to casually look through in order to find items of interest, especially without knowledge of what to look for beforehand.
- 2To move about while sampling, such as with food or products on display.
- 3To navigate through hyperlinked documents on a computer, usually with a browser.
- 4To move about while eating parts of plants, especially plants other than pasture, such as shrubs or trees.
- 5To feed on, as pasture; to pasture on; to graze.
Etymology
From Middle English browsen, from Old French brouster, broster (“to nibble off buds, sprouts, and bark; browse”), from brost (“a sprout, shoot, bud”), from a Germanic source, perhaps Frankish *brust (“shoot, bud”), from Proto-Germanic *brustiz (“bud, shoot”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to swell, sprout”). Cognate with Bavarian Bross, Brosst (“a bud”), Old Saxon brustian (“to sprout”). Doublet of brut, breast, and brush.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbrowse,borwse,broswe,browes,browsse,browwse,brrowse,brwose,rbowse
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of browse - 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.
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 "browse"?
What does "browse" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "browse"?
How do you pronounce "browse"?
What is the origin of the word "browse"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “browse”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-O-W-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɹaʊz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bruise” - see the side-by-side comparison. browse vs bruise
- 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.