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brezar

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word brezar

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Latin *vertio
Ultimate origin
Latin vertō

Pronunciation

  • /bɾeˈθaɾ/, [bɾeˈθaɾ], /bɾeˈsaɾ/[1]

Forms

brezar (first-person singular present brezo, first-person singular preterite brecé, past participle brezado)[1]

Etymology

The DLE and Wiktionary derive it inherited from Vulgar Latin *vertiāre, from Latin vertō (“to turn”);[2][1][3] Wiktionary calls it a doublet of verter.[2][1][3]

Corominas treats it with brizar, the older Castilian form, as a verb formed from brizo “cradle”, a western word whose spread in Portuguese, Catalan and Gallo-Romance points to a Celtic origin.[4] Meyer-Lübke started from a noun *bertium or *bretium “wicker basket”;[4] Kleinhans, in the FEW, from a Celtic verb *bertiare “to rock”, compared with an Old Irish verb meaning “to shake, swing”.[4] García de Diego derives the cradle word from virgeus (“made of rods or osiers”).[5] The Spanish Wiktionary has the verb from brezo “cradle”.[6]

The related verbs are Catalan bressar, Occitan bressar and French bercer.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas cites brezar only as the Salamanca form of brizar, which is first found early in the 16th century in Gil Vicente.[4] Lamano's Salamanca glossary of 1915 records it in a lullaby, for rocking a child's cradle.[7]

Semantic evolution

The verb has kept the sense “to rock a child to sleep”.[2][7] The DLE marks it as poetic and extends it to gently swaying anything.[2] The Academy derives the cradle word brezo from it.[8]

Timeline

  • early 16th century – the variant brizar in Gil Vicente.[4]
  • 1726 – Autoridades defines brizar as rocking the cradle so that a baby falls asleep.[9]
  • 1915 – Lamano records brezar in Salamanca.[7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (poetic) To rock a child in a cradle; to sway something gently: La madre brezaba la cuna junto al fuego.[2][1][10]

Usage notes

Brizar is the same verb in another form, and abrezar is used in Salamanca.[11][5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. brezar
  3. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. brezar
  4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 671
  5. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 7200
  6. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
  7. ^ a b c Lamano y Beneite, José de (1915), El dialecto vulgar salmantino, Salamanca: Tipografía Popular, p. 297
  8. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. brezo
  9. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 685
  10. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. brezar
  11. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. brizar

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Brezar.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/brezar. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·