bracket

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈbɹækɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is an alteration of earlier bragget,^[2][3][4] probably borrowed from Middle French braguette (“codpiece”) or Spanish bragueta (“codpiece, bracket, corbel”),^[2][5][6] a diminutive of brague (“breeches”),^[2][4] from Old Occitan braga, from Latin brāca (“breeches”),^[2][5] of Gaulish origin, perhaps from Germanic (compare Old English brōc; see breeches).^[2][3] The architectural bracket was apparently named for its resemblance to a codpiece,^[2][3][6] and a mistaken link with Latin bracchium (“arm”) seems to have influenced the spelling.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A support projecting from a wall: bragget in 1580 in Barnhart and the OED, the 1570s in Etymonline, 1574 in Merriam-Webster;^[2][7][3][4] bracket in 1627, in Captain John Smith.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A small wall shelf is from 1635.^[7] The printing marks [ ] and ( ) are brackets from 1750,^[7] earlier called braces, in the 18th century.^[5] The verb, to enclose in brackets, is from 1797, to couple things together from 1807,^[3] and in artillery to fire shots over and short of a target to find the range from 1903.^[3][8] A group classed together, as an income or tax bracket, is from 1880.^[7]

Timeline

• 1580 – bragget, a support.^[2][7]
• 1627 – bracket.^[2]
• 1750 – printing brackets.^[7]
• 1797 – to bracket (verb).^[3]
• 1880 – a bracket of equals.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A support fixed to a wall to hold a shelf or other weight; a corbel.
2. Either of a pair of marks, ( ) or [ ], used to enclose words or figures.
3. A group or range within a scale: the higher tax bracket.

Verb

1. To enclose in brackets.
2. To group or classify together.
3. To fire over and short of a target to find the range.

Word family

• angle bracket
• bracket clock
• bracket creep
• bracket fungus
• square bracket

Related words

• breeches
• brace
• braccae
• corbel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin