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*brōk

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Etymology and origin of the Proto-West Germanic word *brōk

*brōk1 crotch; breeches

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *brōks
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-
Etymology tree of *brōk1
inherited borrowed derived
Proto-Germanic *brōks
Dutch broek
Proto-West Germanic *brōk

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs a noun *brōk "crotch, buttocks; leggings, trousers".[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“crotch; breeches”),[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *brōk- and Orel as *ƀrōkz.[4][5]

Morphology

A feminine noun, a consonant stem in Old English and Old High German.[6][7] EWA finds that the inflection of the word in the Germanic languages points to an original consonant stem, with the plural Old English brēc and Old Frisian brēk,[7] and Kroonen calls it a root noun.[4]

Evidence

The word is attested as Old English brōc "breeches",[6] Old Frisian brēk "trousers", a plural,[8] Old Saxon brōk in glosses on Latin braca and feminalia,[9] and Old High German bruoh, which glosses Latin femoralia, feminalia and bracae.[7] EWA finds it in every Germanic language except Gothic, whose texts gave no occasion to name the garment.[7] Orel cites the compound Old High German diohbruoh (“knee-breeches”) beside a Gothic *þiuh-brōks that he reconstructs from Late Latin tubrucus.[10]

Competing analyses

The relation to Gaulish *brāca, implied by Latin brācae, is unclear.[4][5] Kroonen allows that the Gaulish word may have been borrowed from Germanic, in view of its final *k, but notes that a loan in the opposite direction has also been suggested, and that the root-noun inflection of the Germanic word could support it, since old loanwords often joined that class.[4] EWA takes the Celtic-Latin brāca for a loan from Germanic.[7] Within Germanic, Kroonen would derive the word from an o-grade intensive verb beside Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), seen in Old English bracan (“to break, bruise”), but only if the first meaning was "behind", the place where the legs part; that meaning would allow the well-known comparison with Latin suffrāgō (“hock”), though the derivation of this late Latin word is problematic.[11][4] EWA judges that the Latin word, in the plural suffrāginēs, can hardly be separated from frangō (“to break”), and sees in this some support for the body part as the original sense.[7]

Meanings

  1. crotch, buttocks[1][4]
  2. breeches, trousers[1][4]

Kroonen glosses the Proto-Germanic noun "loin-cloth, breeches; rump(?)".[4] Old English also used the word for "behind",[4] and Old High German for a kind of loincloth.[7]

Derivatives

  • Proto-Germanic *þeuhabrōks (“loincloth, trousers”), which Wiktionary reconstructs behind Old High German diohbruoh;[12] Orel takes the Proto-Germanic word for a compound of *þeuxan and *ƀrōkz.[10]

Reflexes

  • Old English: brōc (“breeches”)[6]
  • Old Frisian: brēk (“trousers”)[8]
  • Old Saxon: brōk (“trousers, knee-breeches”)[9]
  • Old High German: bruoh (“breeches, loincloth”)[7]

*brōk2 brook; marsh

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
Inherited from
Proto-Germanic *brōkaz

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs a noun *brōk "brook, stream; marsh", and calls its origin unknown.[1]

Etymology

Kroonen sets up the Proto-Germanic masculine *brōka- "swamp",[4] Orel a West Germanic derivative *ƀrōkaz or *ƀrōkan,[13] and Köbler both a masculine and a neuter, inherited from Proto-Germanic *brōkaz (“swamp, brook”).[14]

Morphology

A masculine a-stem in Old English,[6] and in Old High German a neuter, perhaps also masculine, a-stem.[7]

Evidence

EWA finds the word in nearly all the West Germanic dialects, though with differing meanings, and not in North Germanic or Gothic:[7] Old English brōc "brook",[6] Old Saxon brōk, only in place names,[7] and Old High German bruoh "swamp", only in glosses, for Latin palus.[7] Köbler dates the Old High German gloss to the 11th century.[15] In modern German the word survives in many regions only in dialects and in place names such as Bruchsal, and Dutch Brussel is recorded as ⟨Brucsella⟩ in 1134.[7] The Finnic word for "reed", Finnish ruoko, is traced in LÄGLOS to Proto-Germanic *brōka- or *brōka-z.[16]

Competing analyses

EWA finds no secure etymology after several attempts.[7] The comparison with the Hesychian gloss Ancient Greek βράγος (brágos, “marsh”) rests on a word that is itself obscure.[7] Derivations from a root *mer(ə)ǵ-, or a link with Celtic *brog- "district, borderland", depend on an uncertain change of *mr- to Germanic *br-; a loan from Celtic is not ruled out, since the Gaulish word named a kind of field, though the Old English sense "brook" fits it less well.[7] An older view derived the noun from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”), as the place where water breaks out of the ground.[7] Kroonen thinks it probably a vrddhi derivative of the adjective *brakka- "brackish", whose geminate was shortened in the overlong syllable *brōkk-;[4] Wiktionary follows this as a possibility.[1]

Meanings

  1. brook, stream[1][6]
  2. marsh, swamp[1][4]

The Old English word meant "brook", the continental ones "marsh, swampy ground".[7] EWA notes that on the Celtic etymology the word would first have named a marsh or a stream on a boundary.[7][7]

Reflexes

  • Old English: brōc (“brook”)[6]
  • Old Saxon: brōk (“marsh, moorland”)[17]
  • Old High German: bruoh (“swamp, marshy ground”)[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brōk
  2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *brōks
  3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *brōk, *brōkō
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 78
  5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 57
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brōc
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. bruoh
  8. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. brēk
  9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brōk
  10. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 423
  11. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 75
  12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *þeuhabrōks
  13. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 55
  14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *brōka-, *brōkaz
  15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bruoh
  16. ^ 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. 184
  17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *brōk?

Related etymologies

  • *stain · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *beran · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *sōkijan · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *fimf · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *hail · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *hertā · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *busk · also from Proto-Germanic
  • *reht · also from Proto-Germanic
Cite this entry

“*brōk.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/gmw-pro/*br%C5%8Dk. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.

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