Etymologically
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breast

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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
  • 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