Etymologically
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bring

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 13:28. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /brɪŋ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English bringen, inherited from Old English bringan (“to bear, convey; to bring forth, produce”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *brangjanan.[2] It has no exact relatives outside Germanic, but is usually connected with Welsh hebrwng (“to accompany, conduct”) and traced to Proto-Indo-European *bhrengk-,[2][3][5] which Watkins bases on *bher- (“to carry”);[2][4] Boutkan, cited by Etymonline, suspects a word from a Germanic and Celtic substrate.[2] Its relatives include German bringen and Dutch brengen.[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To bear, convey, take along; to bring forth, produce: Old English bringan, about 725, in Beowulf.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The Old English past tense was brōhte and the participle brōht, the ancestors of brought;[2][7] a rare strong participle brungen survives in dialect brung, and brang was later formed on the model of ring, rang, rung.[3][2] Bring forth is from about 1200, bring down from about 1300, and bring about and bring up, “to rear”, from the late 14th century.[2] “To persuade” is from 1516.[8] Bring down the house, with applause, is from 1754, and bring up, “to raise for discussion”, from 1875.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English bringan (Beowulf).[3]
  • c. 1200 – bring forth.[2]
  • c. 1300 – bring down.[2]
  • late 14th century – bring about, and bring up, to rear.[2]
  • 1516 – to persuade.[8]
  • 1754 – bring down the house.[2]
  • 1875 – bring up, to raise a subject.[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To take with oneself to a place.
  2. To carry as a contribution: brings experience.
  3. To lead or force into a state or position.
  4. To persuade or induce.
  5. To cause to happen as a result.
  6. To call to mind.
  7. To sell for; to fetch: brought a good price.

Word family

  • bringer
  • brought
  • take
  • fetch

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that in most American usage bring means motion toward the speaker or the point of reference, and take motion away from it.[9]

References

  1. ^ 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 i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin