brasser

brasser¹ to brew, to stir

Pronunciation

• /bʁa.se/^[4]

Forms

brasser^[4] Old French bracier, bracer.^[1][5] Anglo-Norman bracer, braser, bresser and other spellings.^[6]

Etymology

The verb for brewing is inherited from Old French bracier, inherited from Vulgar Latin *braciō, recorded in the 9th century as Medieval Latin bratsō.^[3][7][8] It is derived from Latin braces, a word that Pliny gives as Gaulish for a kind of spelt;^[3][7] that sense is doubtful, since the Celtic words that correspond to it, such as Welsh brag, mean “malt”.^[3][7] Wiktionary reconstructs it as Gaulish *brakis and traces it further to Proto-Celtic *mrakis and Proto-Indo-European *merk- (“to be soaked”).^[4] The same Gaulish word gave Old French brais “barley prepared for brewing” (12th century), which went out of use after 1611 except in Walloon, where brais is a March beer.^[7][3]

From the start the verb was influenced by the noun for “arm”, ⟨bras⟩, and it came to be felt as a derivative of it;^[3][7] the Grand Robert describes it as a crossing of this Vulgar Latin verb with a verb formed on ⟨bras⟩.^[1][2] Littré gives the older view that it came from the word for the arm, as if “to stir with the arms”, and rejects it for the malt word.^[9] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Gaulish word did not reach the south of France, where wine was always preferred to beer.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it in the 12th century in the figurative sense “to plot, to hatch”: Mais ore oiez que il li brace, Qu'il engigne, qu'il li porchace Sa mort e sa destruction “but now hear what he is brewing for him, how he schemes and seeks his death and destruction”.^[9][5] The Grand Robert dates the sense “to mix, to stir” to about 1175 and “to brew beer” to 1176.^[1]

Semantic evolution

From its first records the verb meant to prepare beer by steeping malt in hot water, and by analogy to stir two substances together; it spread to other techniques, in fishing, farming and baking, with the general sense “to stir”.^[3][10] In Swiss French brasser la neige (1728) means to wade with difficulty through deep snow.^[3] The figurative sense “to plot, to hatch” is as old as the verb; it has gone out of use, though most dictionaries still list it.^[3][10]

A newer figurative sense, “to handle a lot of money, to deal in business” (brasser des affaires, 1808), seems to be a metaphor from handling things with the hands.^[3][5] The verb also came to mean to mix and handle many elements, such as peoples or social classes,^[10][3] and in the 1970s brasser de l'air and brasser du vent came to mean “to fuss about over nothing, to talk without saying anything”.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 1136–1137 – Earliest record of the verb in Anglo-Norman.^[6]
• 12th century – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses bracier in the sense “to plot”.^[9][5]
• c. 1175 – Bracier “to mix, to stir” is recorded.^[1][3]
• 1176 – First record of the sense “to brew beer”.^[1]
• 1250 – The derivative brasseur “brewer” is recorded.^[7]
• 1268 – Brasserie is recorded.^[7]
• 1728 – Swiss French brasser la neige is recorded.^[3]
• 1808 – Brasser des affaires “to handle a lot of business” appears.^[3]
• 1970s – Brasser de l'air, brasser du vent come into use.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To brew: to prepare the wort by steeping malt in water, and by extension to make beer: brasser une bière blonde.^[2][10]
2. To stir so as to mix;^[2][10] (familiar) to shuffle cards: brasser les dominos.^[2][10]
3. (fishing) Brasser l'eau: to stir up the water to drive the fish into the nets.^[10][9]
4. (figurative) To mix together, to bring together (peoples, social classes).^[10]
5. Brasser des affaires, brasser de l'argent: to handle a great deal of business or money.^[10][3]
6. Brasser de l'air, brasser du vent: to fuss about over nothing, to talk without saying anything.^[3]
7. (dated) To plot, to hatch: brasser une trahison.^[10][9]
8. (Switzerland) Brasser la neige: to wade through deep snow.^[3]

Word family

• brasserie
• brasseur
• brassage
• brassin

brasser² to brace (the yards)

Pronunciation

• /bʁa.se/^[4]

Forms

brasser^[4]

Etymology

The nautical verb is from French bras (“arm, brace (rope)”), first as brassayer (1683) and shortened to its present form in the Académie's dictionary of 1694.^[3][1][2] Furetière records it in 1690 as bracher and brasseyer.^[3] Rey sees in it the nautical specialization of Old French braçoyer, braceier or bracier “to wave the arms” (about 1170), which came to mean “to set the yards with the braces” under the influence of the technical sense “rope” of ⟨bras⟩.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded as brassayer in 1683 and as brasser by the Académie in 1694, meaning to swing a ship's yard round by hauling on its braces.^[3][1]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – Old French bracier “to wave the arms” is recorded.^[3]
• 1683 – Brassayer is recorded.^[3][1]
• 1690 – Furetière records bracher and brasseyer.^[3]
• 1694 – The Académie records the reduced form brasser.^[3][1]
• 1771 – The noun brasseyage is recorded, later reduced to brassage (1867).^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (nautical) To brace a yard: to turn it by hauling on its braces; used absolutely in brasser carré (square to the keel) and brasser en pointe (at an acute angle). Also brasseyer.^[2]