bryony

/ˈbɹaɪəni/

//ˈbɹaɪəni// noun

"bryony" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bryony” is uncommon English (frequency #66,526 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,526
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A perennial herb of the genus Bryonia, especially the common wild subspecies Bryonia cretica dioica (syn. Bryonia dioica).

Corpus desk

Index EN-bryony · bryony · English

bryony · rank #66,526 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,526
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH Brutalist

Nearest frequency peer: Brutalist (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “bryony”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “bryony” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bryony
PropertyValue
Headwordbryony
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɹaɪəni/
Letters6
Frequency rank#66,526
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bryony” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).bryonyfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Brutalist” (#66,525), “buccal” (#66,527), “buckaroo” (#66,528). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bryony” is #66,526. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bryony is uncommon English at frequency #66,526 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɹaɪəni/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A perennial herb of the genus Bryonia, especially the common wild subspecies Bryonia cretica dioica (syn. Bryonia dioica).".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for bryony, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English brionie, from Latin bryōnia (“bryony”), from Ancient Greek βρυωνία (bruōnía, “bryony”), from βρύω (brúō). The correct English form is bryony, spelled B-R-Y-O-N-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A perennial herb of the genus Bryonia, especially the common wild subspecies Bryonia cretica dioica (syn. Bryonia dioica).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. On a sudden a low breath / Of tender air made tremble in the hedge / The fragil bindweed-bells and briony rings; […]
  2. I cycled the three miles each morning between hedges draped with spangled cobwebs and berried bryony.

Etymology

From Middle English brionie, from Latin bryōnia (“bryony”), from Ancient Greek βρυωνία (bruōnía, “bryony”), from βρύω (brúō).

This word in other languages

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 "bryony"?
"bryony" is spelled B-R-Y-O-N-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɹaɪəni/.
What does "bryony" mean?
As a noun, "bryony" means: A perennial herb of the genus Bryonia, especially the common wild subspecies Bryonia cretica dioica (syn. Bryonia dioica).
How do you pronounce "bryony"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bryony" is /ˈbɹaɪəni/. 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 "bryony"?
From Middle English brionie, from Latin bryōnia (“bryony”), from Ancient Greek βρυωνία (bruōnía, “bryony”), from βρύω (brúō). 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 "bryony", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list