Etymologically
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breeze

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 16:09. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bɹiːz/[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Old Spanish briza (“cold northeast wind”) or Portuguese briza (now brisa),[2][3][4][5] but compare Italian brezza (“cold wind”) and French brise (“breeze”);[2] the origin is uncertain.[2] Etymonline also allows East Frisian Low German brisen (“to blow fresh and strong”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A north or northeast wind: 1565 (brise) in Barnhart, the 1560s in Etymonline, 1565–89 in the OED.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In the West Indies and on the Spanish Main it came to mean the northeast trade wind, from 1595 in Raleigh,[2][3][5] and then the cool wind blowing from the sea by day on tropical coasts (1614).[6] The general sense, a gentle or light wind, is from 1626, in Captain John Smith.[2][3][6] The verb, to blow gently, is from the 1680s, and to move briskly from 1904.[3] The slang sense, something easy, is American English from about 1928,[3][2] and shoot the breeze, to chat idly, is informal.[7]

Timeline

  • 1565 – a northeast wind.[2]
  • 1595 – a trade wind.[2]
  • 1626 – a gentle wind.[2][6]
  • 1680s – to breeze, blow gently.[3]
  • c. 1928 – something easy.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A gentle or light wind.
  2. (meteorology) Any of several winds of force 2 to 6 on the Beaufort scale.
  3. (informal) Something easy to do: it was a breeze.

Verb

  1. To move quickly and casually or easily: she breezed through the exam.
  2. To blow lightly.

Word family

  • breezeless
  • breezelike
  • breezeway
  • breezy
  • fresh breeze
  • gentle breeze
  • light breeze
  • moderate breeze
  • brisk

Usage notes

Two other words are spelled breeze: the gadfly, from Old English brēosa (before 800),[6][8] and small cinders or coke dust, from French braise (“live coals”) (1726).[4][8][9]

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 h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin