"B" Word Origins

Brasil

Portuguese

From Portuguese Brasil. Doublet of Brazil.

brass

Middle English

From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *brasō (“fire, pyre”). Compare Old Norse and Icelandic bras (“solder”), Icelandic brasa (“to harden in the fire”), Swedish brasa (“a small controlled fire”), Danish brase (“to fry”); French braser ("to solder"; > English braise) from the same Germanic root. Compare also Middle Dutch braspenninc ("a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch braspenning), Old Frisian bress (“copper”), Middle Low German bras (“metal, ore”). In the military sense an ellipsis of the brass hats.

brassica

Origin

Learned borrowing from Latin brassica.

brassiere

French

Borrowed from French brassière, originally referring to a piece of clothing worn on the arm or upper body, from bras ("arm").

brassy

Origin

From brass + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning “having the quality of”).

brat

Old English

Early Modern English (c. 1500) slang term meaning "beggar's child". Possibly from Scots bratchet (“bitch, hound”), in which case it would be a doublet of brachet. Another possibility is that it was originally a dialectal word, from northern and western England and the Midlands, for a "makeshift or ragged garment," from Old English bratt (“cloak”), which is from a Celtic source (Old Irish brat (“cloak, cloth”)). In the sense "characteristic of a confident and assertive woman", coined by English singer and songwriter Charli XCX in her 2024 album Brat, though occasional earlier uses of the word with a "reclaimed" or ironic, positive connotation existed, including in LGBTQ slang for people of certain femme or feminine-leaning personalities.

Bratislava

Origin

From Slovak Bratislava, from the name of Prince Bräslav.

brattle

Origin

Apparently imitative, probably under influence of break + rattle.

bratva

Russian

From Russian братва (bratva), meaning "brotherhood," related to брат (brat, "brother").

bratwurst

German

From German Bratwurst, from braten ("to fry") and Wurst ("sausage").

Braun

German

From German Braun; a doublet of the English surname Brown.

braunschweig

Origin

Borrowed from German Braunschweig.

brava

Italian

Italian, the feminine form of bravo.

bravado

French

From French bravade, ultimately from Italian bravare ("to brag, to boast") — related to bravo and brave.

brave

Italian

From Italian bravo, of uncertain deeper origin — a doublet of the English word "bravo."

braveheart

Origin

A compound of brave and heart.

bravehood

Origin

From brave + -hood.

bravery

French

From French braverie, from braver ("to brave"), related to brave.

bravo

Italian

From Italian bravo, a doublet of brave.

brawl

Middle English

From late Middle English braulen ("to clamour or quarrel"), likely related to bray and originally imitative of a loud, harsh noise.

brawler

Origin

From Middle English brawler, brawlere, equivalent to brawl + -er.

brawn

Old French

From Old French braon ("fleshy part of the body"), tracing back to a Germanic word for roasted meat.

brawny

Origin

From Middle English brawny; equivalent to brawn + -y.

Braxton

Origin

Likely from the English village of Branxton in Northumberland.

bray

Old French

From Old French braire ("to cry out"), possibly ultimately related to words for making a loud noise.

braze

Origin

From Middle English brasen, from Old English brasian, bræsian (“to cover with brass”), from bræs (“brass”).

brazen

Old English

From Old English bræsen, "made of brass." The modern sense of "shamelessly bold" grew out of the older figurative idea of a face like brass — hard, shiny and unmoved by shame.

Brazil

Portuguese

The country is named after brazilwood, a valuable dyewood exported from the region; the wood's name in turn comes from Portuguese brasa ("ember"), describing its glowing red colour.

brb

English

An initialism of be right back, from early online chat and messaging.

Brea

Origin

From Galician Brea. Compare Blea.

breach

Old English

From Old English bryce and brǣc ("a breaking"), related to the verb "break."

breachy

Origin

From breach + -y.

bread

Old English

From Old English brēad, from a prehistoric Germanic root connected with brewing or fermenting — likely referring originally to a "leavened" or "raised" dough rather than the flatbreads eaten earlier.

breadbasket

Origin

From bread + basket.

breadth

Middle English

From Middle English brede ("breadth"), reshaped to match the pattern of length and strength, ultimately related to broad.

breadwinner

Origin

A straightforward compound of bread (as in "earning one's bread," i.e. livelihood) and winner ("earner").

break

Latin

From Old English brecan ("to break"), an ancient Germanic word related to Latin frangere — the root behind English words like fracture and fragment.

break off

Middle English

From Middle English breke of (“break off, terminate”), a dissimilated form of earlier Middle English ofbreken. By surface analysis, break + off.

breakaway

Origin

Formed from the phrasal verb break away.

breakdown

Origin

A deverbal noun from the phrasal verb break down.

breaker

Origin

From break + the agent suffix -er.

breakers

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

breakfast

Origin

Literally "break fast" — the meal that ends the night's fast since your last meal.

breakneck

Origin

From break + neck.

breakout

Origin · 1976

From the phrasal verb break out; the video-game genre sense comes from the 1976 Atari game Breakout.

breakthrough

Origin

From break + through, describing progress that pushes past a barrier.

breakup

Origin

A deverbal noun from the phrasal verb break up.

breakwater

Origin

From break + water. Compare Dutch breekwater (“breakwater”). Compare firebreak.