Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/65

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rinnen, rennen); the form with simple n is seen in AS. bryne, ‘conflagration’ (from bruni). A root bren-, pre-Teut. bhren, with the meaning ‘to burn,’ has not yet been authenticated in the other Aryan languages.

brenzeln, vb., ‘to taste burnt,’ first occurs in ModHG. a frequentative form of brennen.

Bresche, f., ‘breach, gap,’ ModHG. only, from Fr. brèche, whence also the equiv. Du. bres. The Fr. word is usually traced back to the OG. stem of brechen.

Brett, n., ‘board, plank, shelf, counter,’ from the equiv. MidHG. brët, OHG. brët, n.; corresponds to AS. brëd, n,; Goth. *brid, n. It has been shown under Bort, ‘board,’ that the OTeut. word for Brett had two stems, primarily identical and separated only by gradation, viz., bredo- and bordo-, whose connection might be represented thus: Ind. bradhas is related to bṛdhas, as Aryan bhrédhos is to bhṛdhós, n.; MidHG. brët combines the meanings ‘board, shield,’ &c., like AS. bord; see also Korb.

Bretzel, m., f., ‘cracknell,’ from the equiv. MidHG. brezel, also breze, OHG. brezitella and brezita (bergita); allied to Bav. die bretzen, Suab. brätzg, brätzet, Alsat. brestell. The Suab. form as well as OHG. brizzilla presupposes a Teut. ë; but the vowel sounds of the remaining forms are uncertain. It is most frequently referred to MidLat. brâcéllum (whence brăzil, and by mutation brĕzil’), or rather brâchiólum, ‘little arm’ (the different kinds of pastry are named from their shape; comp. e.g. MidHG. krâpfe, ‘hook, hook-shaped pastry’); MidHG. brœzte would be brâchitum. From OHG. brézitella the ModHG. Bretstelle (Strassb.) was produced, while breztella was resolved by a wrong division of syllables into Bret-s-telle; thus we deduce In ModHG. Tapfe from Fußtapfe, i.e. Fuß-stapfe. The absence of the word in Rom. (yet comp. Ital. bracciatello) seems to militate against the derivation of the whole of this class from Lat. bracchium. In that case OHG. bergita, brezita, might perhaps be connected with AS. byrgan, ‘to eat,’ OIr. bargen, ‘cake.’

Brief, m., ‘letter, epistle,’ from MidHG. brief, OHG. brief, m.; from Lat. brĕvis (scil. libellus); the lengthened ê from ĕ in words borrowed from Lat. becomes ea and then ie (comp. Priester); Lat. brevis and breve, ‘note, document,’ The HG. word had originally a more general signification,

‘document,’ hence the ModHG. verbriefen. MidHG. and OHG. brief, ‘letter, document,’ and generally ‘a writing.’ When the OTeut. Runic characters were exchanged for the more convenient Roman letters (see schreiben as well as Buch), the Germans adopted some terms connected with writing; OHG. briaf appears in the 9th cent. (the Goth. word is bôka, ‘document’).

Brille, f., ‘spectacles,’ from late MidHG. barille, berille, brille, ‘spectacles’ (Du. bril); properly the gem Lat.-Gr. beryllus (the syncope of the unaccented e is amply attested by bange, bleiben, glauben, &c.); comp. Beryll.

bringen, vb., ‘to bring, accompany,’ from the equiv. MidHG. bringen, OHG. bringan; comp. OSax. brengian, Du. brengen AS. bringan, E. to bring, Goth. briggan, bringan, ‘to bring.’ The Aryan form of this specially Teut. word, which is wanting only in OIc., would be bhrengh (bhrenk?); no cognates are recorded.

Brink, m., ‘grassy hillock, green sward,’ from LG. brink, comp. OIc. brekka (from *brinkô), f., both meaning ‘hill’; akin to E. brink, and OIc. bringa, ‘mead.’

brinnen, see brennen.

Brise, f., from the equiv. E. breeze (whence also Fr. brise ?).

Brocke, Brocken, m., ‘crumb,’ from the equiv. MidHG. brocke, OHG. broccho, m.; Goth. *brukka, m., for which gabruka, f., occurs : formed by gradation from brechen (comp. Trotte from treten); derivatives bröckeln, bröckelig.

Brockperle, f., ‘rough pearl,’ ModHG. only, from Fr. baroque, Port. barocco (Span. barueco), ‘oval.’

brodeln, brudeln, vb., ‘to bubble,’ from MidHG. brodeln, vb.; hence MidHG. aschenbrodele, ‘scullion,’ from which Aschenbrödel, ‘Cinderella,’ comes. See Brot.

Brodem, m., ‘fume, exhalation,’ from MidHG. brā̆dem, m., ‘vapour,’ OHG. brâdam, ‘vapour, breath, heat.’ AS. brœ̂þ, ‘vapour, breath, wind,’ E. breath, are perhaps cognate, so too ModHG. braten?.

Brombeere, f., ‘blackberry,’ from the equiv. MidHG. brâmber, OHG. brâmberi; lit. ‘bramble-berry,’ OHG. brâmo, MidHG. brâme (also ‘briar’ generally). Akin to AS. brôm, E. broom (ModHG. Bram, ‘broom for besoms); AS. brêmel, ‘thorny plant,’ E. bramble, Du. braam, ‘bramble-bush,’ whence Fr. framboise.

Brosam, m., Brosame, f., ‘crumb’;