Brochure

How to spell brochure

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce brochure

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does brochure mean?

1. nounA small printed booklet or pamphlet containing information or advertising, often with photographs.

Brochure in a sentence

• The travel agent handed her a glossy brochure about the islands.

• The museum prints a brochure listing every exhibit and its history.

Where does brochure come from?

Language of origin: French

Brochure comes directly from the French noun brochure, which meant a small stitched booklet. It was built on the verb brocher, meaning to stitch or to sew together, since early pamphlets were literally held together by a few stitches rather than a full binding. That verb in turn traces back to broche, a pointed tool such as a spit, awl, or needle, which is also the ancestor of the cookery word 'broach' and the ornamental 'brooch'. English borrowed brochure in the eighteenth century, keeping the French spelling intact, which is exactly why it traps writers: the 'ch' sounds like 'sh' and the ending 'ure' is unstressed, so neither part is spelled the way it sounds. Remembering that it began as a stitched pamphlet helps fix the unexpected 'ch' in the middle.

How the word is built

• broch- (from French brocher, to stitch)
• -ure (noun-forming suffix)