Etymologically
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braid

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English breiden, also braiden,[2][3][4] inherited from Old English bregdan (“to move quickly, pull, swing, draw (a sword); bend, weave, knit”),[5][6][7] a strong verb with the past tense brægd and the past participle brogden,[5][8] inherited from Proto-Germanic *bregdaną.[5][6] Its cognates are Old Norse bregða (“to brandish, move quickly; braid”), Old Saxon bregdan (“to weave”), Old Frisian breida, Dutch breien (“to knit”) and Old High German brettan (“to draw, weave, braid”).[5][3][8][9] The OED gives the Germanic root meaning as "to pull quickly hither and thither",[8] and Ayto as "to make sudden jerky movements from side to side".[10] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford call the further origin unknown;[7][9] Etymonline suggests a root Proto-Indo-European *bhrek-, with phonetic difficulties,[5] while Barnhart and Klein connect it with Proto-Indo-European *bherek- (“to shine”) and Ancient Greek φορκός (phorkós, “white, gray”).[6][3] The noun comes partly from the verb and partly from Old English gebrægd (“craft, fraud”), which is related to Old Norse bragð (“deed, trick”).[5][6][8] Ayto traces bridle to the same Germanic base,[10] and upbraid continues Old English upbregdan.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Old English the verb meant to make a quick movement, to brandish or swing, and to draw a sword: Barnhart dates it to about 725, in Beowulf.[6][8] In Middle English, breiden "to move quickly" is recorded probably before 1200, and the sense "to plait, braid" from about 1200.[6][5]

Semantic evolution

Ayto explains that the "quick side-to-side movement" sense was applied early to the twisting together of strands or threads, and that only this plaiting sense outlived the 16th century.[10] Etymonline likewise notes that the verb survives only in the narrow sense of plaiting hair.[5] The older senses lasted into the 17th century: to draw a sword until 1600, and to start up out of sleep or a swoon from about 1275 to 1603.[8] Chaucer used breiden for "to start up, awaken suddenly".[12] Barnhart notes that the present-tense form breide and the past-tense braide merged about 1300.[6] The noun first meant a trick or deception (before 1200, in Layamon's Chronicle of Britain) and a sudden movement (from 1297);[6][8] the sense "a plait, especially of hair" appears in 1530, in Palsgrave,[8][5] a band for the hair in 1576,[8] and a woven band of thread for trimming clothes in 1706.[8] The verb "to trim with braid" followed from the noun in the 18th century.[7] The poetic variant brede has been used for "plait" since the 17th century.[8] In northern English dialects braid also meant to retch or vomit, and in Lincolnshire to embroider.[13]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English bregdan, to move quickly, brandish, in Beowulf.[6][8]
  • before 1200 – noun, a trick or deception, in Layamon.[6] Etymonline dates it about 1200.[5]
  • c. 1200 – to plait, braid.[6][5]
  • c. 1275 – to start up out of sleep (obsolete by 1603).[8]
  • 1297 – noun, a sudden movement, a jerk (obsolete by 1626).[8]
  • 1530 – noun, a plait, especially of hair.[8][4]
  • 1576 – a band for tying the hair.[8]
  • 1706 – a woven band of thread for trimming clothes.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To interweave three or more strands of hair, thread or the like into one length; to plait: She braided her sister's hair before the wedding.[14][4]
  2. To make something by braiding: to braid a straw mat.[14][4]
  3. To trim or edge with braid.[14][7]
  4. To arrange or weave together in a crisscross pattern; figuratively, to intertwine separate strands, as of a story.[4]
  5. (obsolete, Old English–1600) To draw a sword or knife.[8][12]

Noun

  1. A length of hair or other strands braided together; a plait.[14][4][8]
  2. A narrow band of braided or woven fabric used to trim or bind clothing.[14][4][8]
  3. A cord or band of gold or silver thread on a uniform, showing rank.[4]
  4. (obsolete, 1297–1626) A sudden or quick movement; a start or jerk.[8][9]

Word family

  • braider
  • unbraid
  • upbraid
  • bridle

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  7. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  10. ^ a b c Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  11. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
  12. ^ a b Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  13. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  14. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins