Breach, Breech
Mind the gap! The famous London Underground announcement can help to remind us when to use breach. Although often confused with breech, breach has an entirely different meaning. It originates from old French and was used in a military sense to denote a gap in fortifications. These days it applies to any gap, break or violation. Examples are:
- To breach the enemy’s defenses
- A breach of the peace
- A breach of the wall
In contrast, breech, which is of uncertain origin, refers to the rear. The better known but now little used breeches refers to the covering for that part of the anatomy. It is also used for the rear of a weapon in the term a breech loading rifle.
By extension, the meaning of breech covers something that is facing the wrong way, hence a breech birth.
Sharon on December 8, 2007 
Subscribe to our RSS Feed
Related Articles
Bookmark
Sponsors
Popular Articles
- 6 Foreign Expressions You Should Know
- The Impotence of Proofreading
- Let the Word Do the Work
- 10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals
- 8 Proofreading Tips and Techniques
- 40 Yiddish Words You Should Know
- TV's War on "Me" and "I"
- 34 Writing Tips That Will Make You a Better Writer
- Gross Writing Errors on the Web
- Creative Writing 101
- Latin Words and Expressions
- Usage That Provokes “Blackboard Moments”
- 44 Resume Writing Tips
Recent Articles
- Complacent, Complaisant
- Say What You Mean
- A Novel IS Fiction
- English Grammar 101: All You Need to Know
- Short Story Competition: Sixth Batch Is Open for Voting!
- Word of the Day: Bourgeois
- The Scandinavian Connection
- Five Reasons Why Blogging Leads to Writing Jobs
- How to Address Your Elders, Your Doctor, Young Children… and Your CEO
- Short Story Competition: Fifth Batch Is Open for Voting!
I’ve seen this mis-used many times, good post.
Thanks, Nick. It’s an easy one to misuse.