Etymologically
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embrace

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ɛmˈbɹeɪs/, /ɪmˈbɹeɪs/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English enbracen, borrowed from Old French embracier (“to clasp in the arms, enclose”),[2][3][4] from en- (“in”) and brace, braz, the arms (see brace),[2][3] from Latin bracchium (“arm”).[3][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To encircle or surround: about 1350 in Barnhart;[2][6] to clasp in the arms, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.[3]

Semantic evolution

To fold in the arms, hug, is first recorded about 1385, in Chaucer.[2][7] It replaced Old English clyppan and fæðm.[3] To accept gladly, as an idea or opportunity, is from the 14th century,[5] and to comprise or include from the 17th century.[5] The sexual sense is from the 1590s.[3] The noun, a hug, is from 1592, in Romeo and Juliet;[2][7] in Middle English the noun embrace meant bribery.[3]

Timeline

  • c. 1350 – to encircle.[2]
  • c. 1385 – to hug.[2]
  • 1592 – a hug (noun).[2][7]
  • 17th century – to include.[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

  1. To hold closely in one's arms, especially as a sign of affection; to hug.
  2. To accept or support willingly and eagerly: embrace change.
  3. To include or contain.

Noun

  1. An act of holding someone in one's arms.

Word family

  • embraceable
  • embracement
  • embracer
  • embracingly
  • unembraced
  • embraceor
  • all-embracing
  • embracery
  • brace
  • bracelet
  • embrasure

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press