Etymologically
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broach

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /bɹəʊtʃ/ (UK); /bɹoʊt͡ʃ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English brochen (“to pierce”),[2][3][4][5] from Middle English broche “pointed tool, spit”[2][3][6] and influenced by Old French brochier “to spur”.[3][4] The noun is from Old French broche (“spit, awl”),[2][3][4][6] from Vulgar Latin *brocca (“pointed tool”),[2][3][4][6] from the feminine of Latin broccus (“projecting”),[2][3][4][6][5] a word used especially of teeth[4][5] and perhaps of Gaulish origin.[3][4] The word brooch is a variant of the same noun.[3][2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb first meant to pierce or stab (1377) and to spur a horse (1330).[7][3]

Semantic evolution

To broach a cask was to pierce it and draw off the liquor,[7][4] and from the 1570s the verb was used figuratively of opening a subject for discussion.[4][3] Etymonline notes that both the cask and the older sense of spurring into action may lie behind this.[4] The noun named many pointed tools, from a spit to a church spire,[7] and in modern machining a tapered cutting tool for shaping holes.[2][6][5] A separate nautical verb, “to veer broadside to the waves”, is from 1705.[7][6]

Timeline

  • about 1305 – noun, a pointed rod or skewer.[7][3]
  • 1330 – verb, to spur a horse.[7]
  • 1377 – to pierce or stab, now obsolete.[7]
  • about 1440 – to pierce a cask so as to draw the liquor.[7]
  • 1501 – a church spire.[7]
  • 1570s – to begin to talk about a subject.[4][3]
  • 1705 – nautical, to veer broadside to the waves.[7][6]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To bring up a subject for discussion.
  2. To pierce a cask to draw off liquid; to tap.
  3. To shape or enlarge a hole with a broach.
  4. (nautical) To veer or cause a ship to veer broadside to the wind and waves.

Noun

  1. A tapered, toothed tool for shaping or enlarging holes.
  2. A spit for roasting meat.
  3. A gimlet for tapping casks.
  4. A variant spelling of brooch.

Word family

  • broacher
  • abroach
  • brochure

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary groups broach, introduce, moot and raise as verbs meaning to bring a topic forward for discussion.[2]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press