Etymologically
Log in

brèche

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the French word brèche

brèche1 breach, gap

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1119 Philippe de Thaon, Comput
Borrowed from
Frankish *breka
Ultimate origin
Frankish *breka

Pronunciation

Forms

brèche f (plural brèches)[1] Old French breche (1119), later also bresche.[2][1][3]

Etymology

The word for a breach or gap is a Germanic word found only in Gallo-Romance,[4][2] probably borrowed from Frankish *breka (“opening, fracture”), reconstructed from Old High German brecha (“a breaking”), from the verb brechan (“to break”).[2][5][6][7] The same root gives the reconstructed Frankish verb behind broyer.[2] Wiktionary traces the Frankish noun to Proto-Germanic *brekō (“a breaking, breach”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break”).[1]

Rey takes the derivatives Old Occitan bercar (“to notch”) and berch (“notched”) (12th century) as borrowed from French, like Italian breccia, Spanish brecha and Portuguese brecha.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1119 in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.[2][6] There, explaining a lion's circle drawn with its tail, the breche is the opening that is the way into Paradise;[2][8] Rey reads this first use as an interruption or gap.[2][8]

Semantic evolution

The word names an opening made by force or by accident in whatever closes something off: in a hedge by 1304, in a wall by 1419, and in the 15th century especially in a town's fortified wall.[2][3] That military use gave sur la brèche (1694), in the 19th century “in the thick of the action”, and battre en brèche (1701), to fire on a wall with artillery until it breaks, later also to attack an argument.[2][9] From the 16th century it is also damage done to something that should have stayed whole, such as a fortune or a reputation.[2][6]

It also names a nick in a blade where a chip has broken off, the sense of the derived verb ébrécher (1260).[9][3][4] The compound brèche-dent “gap-toothed” is first a 13th-century personal name, Brichedent, and an adjective from 1534.[4][2]

Timeline

  • 1119 – Breche appears in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.[2][6]
  • 1260 – The derived verb ébrécher is recorded.[4][2]
  • 1304 – It is used of a gap in a hedge.[2]
  • 1419 – It is used of a gap in a wall.[2]
  • 15th century – It names an opening in fortifications.[2]
  • 16th century – It is used of damage to someone's goods or fortune.[2]
  • 1694 – Sur la brèche is recorded.[2]
  • 1701 – Battre en brèche is recorded.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An opening or gap in a wall, fence or hedge: Les chèvres sont passées par une brèche de la clôture.[9][3][10]
  2. (military) A breach in a fortified wall, or a break in a line of defence or a front: ouvrir une brèche, colmater une brèche.[9][6][11]
  3. Être (toujours) sur la brèche: to be always fighting or ready to fight, and figuratively to be always busy.[9][11]
  4. Battre en brèche: to fire on a wall to open a breach, and figuratively to attack and undermine an argument or someone's credit.[9][6][3]
  5. S'engouffrer dans la brèche: to rush through the gap, and figuratively to take advantage of a precedent set by someone else.[9]
  6. A small notch in an object where a chip has broken off, especially in a blade.[9][3][12]
  7. A strip cleared through a forest.[9]
  8. (figurative) Damage to something that should stay whole, such as a fortune or a reputation: faire une brèche à or dans something.[9][6]

Word family

  • ébrécher
  • brèche-dent

brèche2 breccia

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1611 Cotgrave
Borrowed from
Italian breccia
Ultimate origin
Italian breccia

Pronunciation

Forms

brèche f (plural brèches)[1] Early Modern French bresche (1611).[10][5]

Etymology

The word for the rock is probably borrowed from Italian breccia, a mineralogical term in Italian from 1469.[10] The Grand Robert and the Grand Larousse call the Italian word Ligurian, meaning a broken stone,[5][6] while the TLFi refers for its origin to the FEW's article on *breka, the source of brèche1.[10][13] Etymonline likewise derives the Italian word from a Germanic source akin to Old High German brecha.[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cotgrave's French–English dictionary of 1611 has bresche, the name of a very hard marble of various colours.[15][10]

Semantic evolution

From a kind of hard, many-coloured marble the word passed to geology, where it names any rock made of angular fragments bound by a natural cement.[10][5] English took breccia straight from Italian in 1774.[14]

Timeline

  • 1469 – Italian breccia is recorded as a mineral term.[10]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records bresche, a hard marble of various colours.[15][10]
  • 1774 – English borrows breccia from Italian.[14]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (geology) Breccia: a rock made of angular fragments bound together by a natural cement: brèche sédimentaire, brèche tectonique.[9][5][12]
  2. Brèche osseuse or ossifère: a breccia made of the bones of mammals cemented together.[5]
  • broyer
  • Old High German brecha
  • Italian breccia

Usage notes

The Grand Robert has a third, regional brèche in beekeeping, honey sold in its comb or a piece of comb taken from the hive; its origin is unknown, perhaps a figurative use of brèche “nick”, and Larousse lists it under that word.[5][12] The spelling brêche is occasionally found.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 263a
  8. ^ a b Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 1:1131
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  11. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
  12. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  13. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 265a
  14. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  15. ^ a b Cotgrave, Randle (1611), A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, London: Adam Islip

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Brèche.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/br%C3%A8che. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·