breast

Pronunciation

• IPA: /brest/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English brest, inherited from Old English brēost,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *breustą,^[3][4][2] which also gave Old Saxon briost, Old Norse brjóst and Dutch borst, beside a form *brusts behind German Brust and Gothic brusts.^[4][2][3] Outside Germanic it is related to Old Irish brú “belly, bosom” and Russian brjukho “belly”,^[3][5] perhaps literally “swelling”, from PIE Proto-Indo-European *bhreus- (“to swell, sprout”).^[2][3] The Old English ēo was shortened before two consonants in late Middle English, but the spelling with ea kept the old long vowel.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The chest or a woman's breast: about 725 in Barnhart, in a version of Genesis; about 1000 in the OED.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Old English already used the breast for the seat of the emotions and of secrets,^[2][6] as in to make a clean breast of, to confess.^[1] The corresponding part of animals is from before 1400, and a joint of meat such as chicken breast from 1530.^[6] The breast as a figurative source of nourishment is from 1611.^[6] Breastplate is from the late 14th century, and breast-pump from 1821.^[2] The verb, to push the breast against waves or wind, is from 1599, and to meet boldly from 1850;^[6][2] runners breast the tape at the finish.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 725 – the chest.^[3]
• a1000 – the seat of the emotions.^[6]
• a1400 – of animals.^[6]
• 1530 – a cut of meat.^[6]
• 1599 – the verb.^[6]
• 1821 – breast-pump.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Either of the two organs on a woman's chest that produce milk; the similar organ in other mammals.
2. The front of the body between the neck and the abdomen; the chest.
3. Meat from the front of a bird or animal: chicken breast.
4. (literary) The heart, as the seat of the feelings.

Verb

1. To face or push against something with the chest; to meet boldly.
2. To reach the top of a hill.

Word family

• breasted
• breastless
• abreast
• breastbone
• breastplate
• breaststroke
• breastwork
• redbreast

Related words

• breastfeed

References

1. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press