broddr

Forms

broddr m^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *bruzdaz (“spike”),^[1][2] cognate with Old English brord (“point, blade of grass”) and Old High German brort (“spear, edge”).^[2][3] The Germanic */zd/ became ⟨dd⟩ in Old Norse, as in gaddr (“goad”).^[4][5]

Kroonen explains *bruzda- as a zero-grade variant of Proto-Germanic *brazdaz (“edge”),^[2] whose other grades are in Old English breord (“edge”) and Old High German brart (“edge, prow”).^[6][7] Orel traces it to a *bʰrus-dʰ- and compares Lithuanian bruzdùklis and Proto-Slavic *brъzda (“bridle”).^[8] De Vries and Falk and Torp take it as a *-dʰ- extension of the root of barr (“needle”) and *bʰers- (“to bristle”), and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon compares Old Irish brot (“goad”).^[6][9][10]

It was borrowed as Middle English brod, the source of the English word brad.^[6][11] O'Rahilly derived the Gaelic word for “goad” from it, but Cox finds a Norse loan unlikely, since the Irish word is older.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's first dated citation is from the Icelandic Homily Book (1200): Agn es lagt a ǫngol en hvaꜱ broddr léynesc “bait is laid on the hook, and the sharp point is hidden”.^[13] The Norwegian Homily Book (1212) has a physician who tæcr brodd ór sare “takes the point out of the wound”.^[13]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a metal point or spike, often four-sided, like the spike of an ice-shoe or a staff.^[13][14] From the point it named an arrow with a square head, perhaps a crossbow bolt, and a light javelin.^[13][15] As the foremost part of something it is the front of a column of men, opposed to hali “the rear”, and in vera í broddi lífsins the prime of life.^[16][17] ONP also has a shoot of a plant and a shoal of herring.^[13] In skaldic poetry broddr is a spear or arrow in kennings for battle.^[18][19]

It continues as Icelandic broddur, also “calving milk”,^[10] and as Swedish brodd.^[5] In English it gave brod “a pointed tool” in the late 13th century, and then brad “a headless nail”.^[11]

Timeline

• 1200 – broddr “sharp point” in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[13]
• 1200–1225 – brodd and broddom in the Norwegian manuscript AM 619 4to.^[20]
• 1237 – spyrna í gegn broddi “kick against the pricks” in Páll¹.^[13]
• 1280 – broddr “beginning (of one's life)” in Alex.^[13]
• late 13th century – the English brod, later brad, from Norse.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. a metal point or spike, as on an arrowhead, staff or ice-shoe.^[13][17][14]
2. an arrow with a square head, perhaps a crossbow bolt; a light javelin.^[13][21]
3. the spike of a candlestick.^[13][22]
4. a sting (of an insect); a prick, goad.^[17][16]
5. a shoot of a plant.^[13]
6. the front of a column or body of men.^[13][17]
7. a small shoal of fish, of herring.^[13][21]
8. the beginning or prime of one's life.^[13][17]

Word family

• brodda
• broddǫr
• broddspjót
• broddstafr
• broddstǫng
• broddhǫgg
• broddskot
• fararbroddr
• mannbroddr
• skóbroddr

Descendants

• Icelandic broddur^[1]
• Faroese broddur^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk brodd^[1]
• Swedish brodd^[1]
• Danish brod^[1]
• Middle English brod^[23]
• English brad^[11]

Related words

• brydda
• breddi
• braddi
• gaddr

Usage notes

Broddr and Broddi are also men's names.^[6][10][24]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 81
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. brord
4. ^ Noreen, Adolf (1923), Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik, 4th ed., Halle, p. § 224
5. ^ a b Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. brodd
6. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 58
7. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 266
8. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 59
9. ^ Falk, Hjalmar; Torp, Alf (1910–1911), Norwegisch-dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg, p. s.v. brod
10. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. broddur
11. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Cox, Richard A. V. (2024–2026), Old Norse Loan-Words in Scottish Gaelic, Clann Tuirc, richardavcox.scot/ONlwSG, p. s.v. brod
13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. broddr
14. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. broddr
15. ^ Falk, Hjalmar (1914), Altnordische Waffenkunde, Kristiania, p. 68
16. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 81
17. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. broddr
18. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 66
19. ^ Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. broddr
20. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
21. ^ a b Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 71
22. ^ Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 43
23. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
24. ^ Rygh, Oluf (1901), Gamle Personnavne i norske Stedsnavne, Kristiania, p. 68