butcher

/ˈbʊt͡ʃə/

//ˈbʊt͡ʃə// noun

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

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

The verdict

“butcher” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,340. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,340
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).

Corpus desk

Index EN-butcher · butcher · English

butcher · rank #10,340 · 11 variants · 13 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #10,340
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bum

Nearest frequency peer: bum (-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 “butcher”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “butcher” 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).

butcher vs butter
71% similar
butcher vs butler
71% similar
butcher vs butchery
88% similar

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

Key facts for butcher
PropertyValue
Headwordbutcher
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbʊt͡ʃə/
Letters7
Frequency rank#10,340
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “butcher”

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).butcherlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “bum” (#10,339), “c'mon” (#10,341), “Bradford” (#10,338). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “butcher” is #10,340. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around butcher (IPA /ˈbʊt͡ʃə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,340 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for butcher, with forms such as "bbutcher", "btucher", and "bucther". 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. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "butter", "butler", "butchery", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bocher, boucher, from Old French bouchier (“goat slaughterer”), from Old French bouc (“goat”), from Medieval Latin buccus (“he-goat”), from Frankish *bukk, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz (“male goat, male deer”), from Proto-Indo-European *b… The correct English form is butcher, spelled B-U-T-C-H-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
  2. 2
    A brutal or indiscriminate killer.
  3. 3
    A look.
  4. 4
    A person who sells candy, drinks, etc. in theatres, trains, circuses, etc.
  5. 5
    A king playing card.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He looked in vain into the stalls for the butcher who had sold fresh meat twice a week, on market days...
  2. Butcher of an innocent child.

Etymology

From Middle English bocher, boucher, from Old French bouchier (“goat slaughterer”), from Old French bouc (“goat”), from Medieval Latin buccus (“he-goat”), from Frankish *bukk, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz (“male goat, male deer”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuǵ- (“buck, ram”). See also English buck.

Synonyms

flesherslayer

This word in other languages

carnicero(Español)boucher(Français)Fleischer(Deutsch)talhante(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbutcher
  • btucher
  • bucther
  • butccher
  • butcehr
  • butcherr
  • butchher
  • butchre
  • buthcer
  • buttcher
  • ubtcher

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of butcher - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbutcher1btucher2bucther2butccher1butcehr2butcherr1butchher1butchre2
Edit distance from "butcher"

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 "butcher"?
"butcher" is spelled B-U-T-C-H-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbʊt͡ʃə/.
What does "butcher" mean?
As a noun, "butcher" means: A person who prepares and sells meat (and sometimes also slaughters the animals).
What words are commonly confused with "butcher"?
"butcher" is commonly confused with "butter", "butler", "butchery". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "butcher"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "butcher" is /ˈbʊt͡ʃə/. 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 "butcher"?
From Middle English bocher, boucher, from Old French bouchier (“goat slaughterer”), from Old French bouc (“goat”), from Medieval Latin buccus (“he-goat”), from Frankish *bukk, from Proto-Germanic *bukkaz (“male goat, male deer”), from Proto-Indo-E... 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 "butcher", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

boiling#10,335dreamed#10,354Webster#10,316volcano#10,314

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

awaiting11 variantsglowing11 variantsusername11 variantsunveiled11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list