*brōks

Reconstruction

The noun is *brōks in Wiktionary,^[1] *brōk- in Kroonen,^[2] *ƀrōkz in Orel,^[3] *brōk or *brōkō in Köbler,^[4] and *brōk-s beside *brōkō in LÄGLOS, with a plural *brōkez, later *brōkiz.^[5]

Etymology

Wiktionary derives it from an earlier *brāks, Pre-Germanic *bʰrāg-, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break, to crack, to split”), and compares Latin frangō.^[1] Kroonen calls the etymology disputed.^[2]

Morphology

A feminine root noun.^[2][3] Köbler classes it as a feminine ō-stem.^[4] The plural is Old Norse brækr.^[2] Kroonen notes that the root-noun inflection could support a loan origin, since old loanwords joined this class more often.^[2]

Evidence

The word is attested in North and West Germanic: Old Norse brók, Old English brōc, Old Frisian brōk, Old Saxon brōk and Old High German bruoh.^[6] Gothic has no attested simplex: Köbler's Gothic *brōks is inferred from a compound that Isidore records as Late Latin tubracum,^[7] and Orel reconstructs the compound *þiuh-broks "knee breeches" from Late Latin tubrucus.^[8] The word was borrowed into Finnish ruoke (“trousers”),^[5][9] and de Vries also cites a Sami loan.^[9] It has a close match in Celtic, Old Irish bróc and the Gaulish word behind Latin brācae (“breeches”).^[9][2]

Competing analyses

Kroonen allows a Germanic derivation from an o-grade intensive *brakan-, seen in Old English bracan (“to break, to bruise”), to *brekaną (“to break”), but only if the first meaning was "behind", the place where the legs split; that meaning would also allow the connection with Latin suffrāgō (“joint in the hind leg of a quadruped”), whose derivation is itself problematic.^[2] De Vries also prefers the link with the Germanic verb for "to break", proposed by R. Much, over a connection with Latin frāgrō (“to smell”).^[9]

Kroonen thinks the Gaulish word may have been borrowed from Germanic, in view of its root-final k, though borrowing the other way has been proposed too.^[2] De Vries reports that a loan from Celtic was often assumed, but argues that the Gaulish word is only southern Gaulish and may have come there with the Volcae Tectosages from Moravia, so that the word is rather Germanic, a garment suited to riders.^[9] Orel leaves the relation open, and takes Old Prussian broakay as probably a Germanic loan.^[3]

Meanings

1. breeches, trousers, leggings^[2][1][4]
2. loincloth^[2]
3. rump, rear end, crotch^[2][1]

Kroonen marks the meaning "rump" with a query.^[2] Old Norse used the singular for one leg of a pair of breeches, and Old English also had the sense "behind, breech".^[2]

Derivatives

• *þeuhabrōks "loincloth, trousers", a compound with *þeuhą;^[10] Orel's *þeuxa-ƀrōkz "knee breeches".^[8]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: brók (“trousers, breeches”)^[9]
• Old English: brōc (“trousers”)^[6]
• Old Frisian: brōk (“trousers”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: brōk (“trousers, knee breeches”)^[12]
• Old High German: bruoh (“trousers, loincloth, breeches”)^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brōks
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 78
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 57
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *brōk
5. ^ a b Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 182
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brōc
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *broks
8. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 423
9. ^ a b c d e f de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. brók
10. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *þeuhabrōks
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brōk
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brōk
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bruoh