breeze English · revision 15290

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1565}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɹiːz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably [[bor|osp|briza|t=cold northeast wind]] or [[pt|briza]] (now [[m|es|brisa]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) but compare [[it|brezza|t=cold wind]] and [[fr|brise|t=breeze]];^(Barnhart 1988) the origin is uncertain.^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline also allows [[frs|brisen|t=to blow fresh and strong]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A north or northeast wind: 1565 (brise) in Barnhart, the 1560s in Etymonline, 1565–89 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the West Indies and on the Spanish Main it came to mean the northeast trade wind, from 1595 in Raleigh,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) and then the cool wind blowing from the sea by day on tropical coasts (1614).^(OED 1989) The general sense, a gentle or light wind, is from 1626, in Captain John Smith.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The verb, to blow gently, is from the 1680s, and to move briskly from 1904.^(Etymonline) The slang sense, something easy, is American English from about 1928,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and ''shoot the breeze'', to chat idly, is informal.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1565 – a northeast wind.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1595 – a trade wind.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1626 – a gentle wind.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1680s – to breeze, blow gently.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1928 – something easy.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A gentle or light [[wind]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(meteorology)'' Any of several winds of force 2 to 6 on the [[Beaufort scale]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' Something easy to do: ''it was a breeze''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To move quickly and casually or easily: ''she breezed through the exam''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To blow lightly.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[breezeless]]

+ * [[breezelike]]

+ * [[breezeway]]

+ * [[breezy]]

+ * [[fresh breeze]]

+ * [[gentle breeze]]

+ * [[light breeze]]

+ * [[moderate breeze]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[brisk]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Two other words are spelled breeze: the gadfly, from Old English [[m|ang|brēosa]] (before 800),^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) and small cinders or coke dust, from French [[m|fr|braise|t=live coals]] (1726).^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}