"B" Word Origins

broom

Old English

From Old English brōm ("brushwood"); the shrub was originally what broom-brushes were made from, and the cleaning tool eventually took the plant's name.

broomstick

Origin

A compound of "broom" and "stick," referring first to the handle and later to the whole tool.

Brophy

Irish

Anglicized form of Irish Ó Bróithe, "descendant of Bróth."

brose

Origin

From the Doric dialect of North East Scotland, from earlier browes, from Old French broez, nominative of broet (“stew, soup made from meat broth”) (French brouet) diminutive of breu, from Medieval Latin brodium, from Proto-Germanic *bruþą (“broth”). See broth.

broth

Old English

From Old English broþ, related to "brew" — broth is literally what you get from brewing meat or vegetables in water.

brotha

Origin

From a non-rhotic pronunciation of brother.

brothel

Origin

Originally "brothel-house", combining an old word for a disreputable person with "house" — the sense narrowed over time to mean specifically a house of prostitution.

brother

Old English

One of the oldest words in the language, tracing back through Old English brōþor to the ancient Proto-Indo-European word for "brother" — related to similar words in nearly every European and many Asian languages, from German Bruder to Sanskrit bhrātṛ.

brotherhood

Origin

Formed from "brother" plus the suffix "-hood", which turns a word into an abstract state or condition — the same pattern as "childhood" or "neighbourhood".

brotherlike

Origin

From brother + -like. Piecewise doublet of friarlike.

brotherly

Origin

From "brother" plus the adjective-forming suffix "-ly", the same pattern as "friendly" or "fatherly".

brothership

Origin

From brother + -ship. Piecewise doublet of friarship and palship.

brouhaha

Origin

Borrowed from French brouhaha, but disputed as to where from before that. Possibly from Hebrew בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא (barúkh habá, “welcome”, literally “blessed is he who comes”).

Broussard

French

Borrowed from French Broussard.

brow

Old English

From Old English brū, an ancient word shared across many Indo-European languages for the ridge above the eye.

browbeat

Origin

From brow + beat.

brown

Old English

From Old English brūn, meaning "brown" or "dark" — the same ancient root gave us "bruin", an old poetic name for a bear.

Brownie

Origin · 1870

The Girl Scout sense comes from an 1870 children's story about helpful, elf-like creatures called brownies; the cake sense arose separately in America around 1900, most likely just describing its brown colour.

brownification

Origin

From brown + -ification.

brownout

Origin

A deverbal from brown out, by analogy with blackout.

brownstone

Origin

A straightforward compound of "brown" and "stone", describing both the material and, later, the houses built from it.

Brownsville

Origin

From Brown plus -s- plus -ville.

browse

Old French

From Old French brouster, "to nibble buds and shoots" — the original sense was about animals grazing, and the casual "look around" meaning developed from that image of sampling a little here and there.

browser

Old French

From the verb browse, which came into English from Old French brost 'bud, young shoot', originally describing animals feeding on shoots and leaves.

Broyles

German

An Americanized form of German Breil or Breyhel.

bru

Afrikaans

The South African slang sense comes from Afrikaans broer ("brother"), shortened in everyday speech — a cousin of English "bro" that developed independently.

Bruce

Origin

From a Norman place name, possibly Brix in France, brought to Scotland by the Bruce family in the Middle Ages.

brucie

Origin

From Bruce + -ie.

Bruckner

German

Likely an occupational surname from German Brücke ("bridge").

Bruges

Dutch

From Old Dutch brugga ("bridge"); a doublet of the English word bridge.

bruh

Origin

A clipped, informal pronunciation of "brother," first used in African-American Vernacular English before spreading widely through internet and youth slang; unlike "bro" (which clips the spelling), "bruh" clips the actual sound of the word.

bruin

Origin

From Middle Dutch bruun (“brown”) via William Caxton's 1485 translation of a Dutch version of the legend of Reynard the Fox. Bruin is the bear, named for his brown color. Doublet of brown.

bruise

Old French

From Old English brȳsan, "to crush", blended with a related Old French word for breaking or smashing something.

bruiser

Origin

Formed from "bruise" plus "-er" — literally "one who bruises (others)".

bruising

Origin

From bruise + -ing.

bruit

Origin

The noun is derived from Middle English bruit (“commotion, tumult; fame, renown; collective noun for a group of barons”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman brut (“commotion, tumult; noise, sounds; fame, renown; hearsay, rumour; collective noun for a group of barons”) and Old French bruit (“commotion, tumult; noise, sounds; fame, renown; hearsay, rumour”) (modern French bruit (“noise; report, rumour”)), a noun use of the past participle of bruire (“to make a noise; to rattle; to roar; to rustle”), from Late Latin brugere, an alteration of Latin rugīre (“to roar”) (the present active infinitive of rugiō (“to bray; to bellow, roar; to rumble”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewg- (“to belch; to roar”)), possibly influenced by Late Latin bragere (“to bray”). The English word is cognate with Catalan brogir (“to roar”); Old Occitan bruir, brugir (“to roar”). The verb is derived from the noun.

brumal

Origin

From Latin brūmālis (“of or pertaining to the winter solstice; wintry”), from brūma (“the winter solstice; winter”), which is a contraction of *brevima (“the shortest (day)”).

brumby

Origin

Origin uncertain, though one popular story traces it to James Brumby, an early Australian settler whose escaped horses supposedly gave the word its name.

brunch

Origin · 1890

A blend of "breakfast" and "lunch", first recorded in British English in the 1890s before catching on in America decades later.

Brunei

Sanskrit

Traced through Malay back to the Sanskrit word "varuna", also historically linked to the name of the island of Borneo.

brunet

Origin

From French brunet. Compare also Middle English brunet, burnet (“brown”), from Old French brunet, which is the same word.

brunette

French

Borrowed from French brunette, the feminine form of brunet ("brownish"), itself from brun, "brown".

Bruno

Latin

A Latinized form of Old High German brūn ("brown"); a doublet of the English surname Brown.

Brunswick

Germanic

From the Germanic personal name Bruno combined with an old Low German word for "village" — literally "Bruno's settlement".

brunt

Middle English

From Middle English brunt, meaning a sudden blow or attack, likely linked to an Old Norse word for rushing forward violently.

brush

Old French

From Old French broisse, ultimately from a Germanic word for bristle or thicket — the same root also gives the "shrubland" sense of brush.

brushwood

Origin

From brush + wood.

brusque

Origin

The adjective is borrowed from French brusque, from Italian brusco (“abrupt, sudden, brusque; brisk; eager; sour, tart; unripe; grim-looking”); further etymology unknown. The verb is derived from the adjective.