brosse
Pronunciation
- IPA: /bʁɔs/[1]
Forms
brosse f (plural brosses)[1] Old French broce (1165–1170), broisse (about 1300).[2][3]
Etymology
The origin is obscure.[2] Bloch and Wartburg, the FEW and the GLLF derive it from Vulgar Latin *bruscia (“growth of shoots”),[3][4][5] from Latin bruscum (“knot on the maple”) (Pliny), perhaps a Celtic word, which Catalan brossa and Spanish broza (“bark debris, twigs”) seem to support;[3][2] but Rey points out that the passage from “bruscum” to “bruscia” is difficult, and that “broisse”, the form expected, appears relatively late.[2] Another proposal is “*broccia”, from Gaulish “*wroikos” “heather” (see bruyère), also difficult phonetically.[2][6] P. Guiraud reconstructed “*broccia” from Latin broccus (“with projecting teeth”) (see broche).[2][6] Diez and Littré took it from a Germanic word for “bristle”, Old High German burst (German Bürste (“brush”));[7] Rey and Wiktionary consider this least likely, since the Germanic word does not mean “brushwood”.[2][1]
English brush, in both senses “undergrowth” and “brush”, comes from the French word.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
In Old French broce (1165–1170) meant brushwood, a thicket of heather and briars.[2][3][6]
Semantic evolution
Old and Middle French used it for a thicket and a place full of brambles, and figuratively for a close-packed body of troops, Furetière still has brosses (1690), and the sense survives in forestry (1838) and in broussaille and brousse.[2][3]
The modern sense, a cleaning implement made of bristles, appears about 1300 (broisse), from the idea of a mass of stiff points;[2][3][8] Jean de Meun's Testament compares conscience pricking a man to a broisse.[7] Phrases include brosse à dents (1751), brosse à ongles (1835) and brosse à reluire “flattery” (1944); in painting a brosse is a brush (1680), and cheveux en brosse a crew cut (1844).[2] In Belgium brosse keeps the sense “broom”, and in Quebec prendre une brosse means “to get drunk”.[2][1] The verb brosser dates from 1374.[2]
Timeline
- 1165–1170 – Broce “brushwood”.[2]
- c. 1300 – Broisse “brush”.[2]
- 1374 – Bruissier “to brush”.[2]
- 1559 – Broussaille.[3]
- 1680 – A painter's brush.[2]
- 1751 – Brosse à dents.[2]
- 1844 – En brosse.[2]
- 1944 – Brosse à reluire.[2]
Meanings
Noun
- A brush: brosse à dents, brosse à cheveux, brosse à habits.[8][9]
- A paintbrush (of an artist or decorator).[4][9]
- Cheveux en brosse, une brosse: a crew cut.[4][1]
- (familiar) Manier la brosse à reluire: to toady, flatter.[8][10]
- (Belgium) A broom.[9][2]
- (Quebec, familiar) Prendre une brosse: to get drunk.[2][1]
- (obsolete) Brushwood, thicket.[4][2]
Word family
- brossage
- brosser
- brosseur
- brossier
- broussaille
- brousse
- brossée
Related words
- bruyère
- English brush
References
- ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c d e f g Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
- ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
- ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 572a
- ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
- ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
- ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
- ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)