brake English · revision 10789

+ Brake, a device for stopping motion, is of uncertain origin; brake, a thicket, is from Middle Low German; brake, a fern, is probably a variant of bracken.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /breɪk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|stopping device}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1772|origins=dum braeke}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is possibly an extended sense of earlier brake, a bridle or curb (1552),^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD) which is [[bor|dum|braeke]] or [[gml|brake]], a nose ring for draught animals, also a toothed machine for breaking flax,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) related to [[m|dum|breken|t=to break]] (see [[break]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) It may instead come from brake, a lever or handle for working a crossbow (about 1380) or a pump, from [[fro|brac]], a form of [[m|fro|bras|t=arm]] (see [[brace]]);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Etymonline thinks the senses converged.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A device for slowing or stopping the motion of a wheel: 1772–82, well before the motor car.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A toothed instrument for breaking flax or hemp is from about 1450,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and a baker's kneading machine from about 1440.^(OED 1989) The verb, to apply a brake, is from 1868;^(Etymonline) earlier, to beat flax (late 14th century).^(Etymonline) Figuratively, a brake is anything that slows progress (''to put the brakes on'').^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1380 – a lever, handle.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1450 – a flax brake.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1552 – a bridle, curb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1772–82 – a brake on a wheel.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1868 – to brake (verb).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A device for slowing or stopping a vehicle or machine, usually by friction.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something that slows or stops progress.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A toothed tool for crushing flax or hemp.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To slow or stop with a brake.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[brake fluid]]

+ * [[brake light]]

+ * [[handbrake]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|thicket}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1440|origins=gml brake}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|gml|brake]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) related to [[m|gml|breken|t=to break]], and originally meaning tree stumps or broken branches.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) Hoad derives it from [[ang|bracu]], reinforced in Middle English from Low German.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A clump of bushes or a thicket: about 1440, in the compound ferne-brake in the Promptorium Parvulorum.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A thicket of ferns is probably from about 1450.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1440 – ferne-brake.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1450 – a thicket of ferns.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An area of dense undergrowth, brushwood or briers; a [[thicket]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ {{homograph|3|fern}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=clipping|attested=c. 1325|origins=en bracken}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably a variant of [[bracken]], which may have been taken in dialect as a plural and shortened, as chick from chicken.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster thinks it probably of Scandinavian origin, compare [[gmq-osw|brækne|t=fern]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Fern, bracken: before 1325 in Barnhart, about 1325 in the OED, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In botany, brake is any of various ferns of the genus Pteris.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1325 – bracken.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Bracken, or any of various [[fern|alt=ferns]] of the genus ''Pteris''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[break]]

+ * [[bracken]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}