branch English · revision 4400

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=1297|origins=la-lat branca}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /brɑːntʃ/, US /bræntʃ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|braunche]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) [[bor|fro|branche|t=branch, bough, twig; branch of a family]] (12th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-lat|branca|t=footprint; later a claw, paw]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) of unknown origin, said to be probably Gaulish.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The same word gave Spanish and Italian branca “claw” and Romanian brîncă “hand, paw”.^(SOED 2002) The connecting notion is the shape, compare [[pedigree]].^(Etymonline) In English it replaced native [[bough]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A part of a tree growing out of the trunk: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) before 1300 in the OED, which also has the extended sense, a lateral division of anything, from 1297.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It was used early of things that relate to a main stem as a branch does to a trunk, such as geographical features and lines of family descent.^(Etymonline) A branch of a candelabrum is from 1476,^(OED 1989) a division of a deer's antler from 1485,^(OED 1989) and in American English a small stream or brook from 1624.^(OED 1989) A component part of a system is from the 1690s, which led to the local office of a business, by 1817.^(Etymonline) The verb, to put forth branches, is from before 1375 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) 1382 in the OED,^(OED 1989) and to spread out from a centre from about 1400.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1297 – a lateral division.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – a branch of a tree.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * a. 1375 – verb.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1476 – of a candelabrum.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1624 – a brook.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1690s – a part of a system.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1817 – a branch office.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A woody limb growing from the trunk or main stem of a [[tree]] or shrub.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A side division of something, as of a river, road or [[nerve]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A local office or shop of a business or organization.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A division of a family descended from one ancestor.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # An area of a subject: ''a branch of mathematics''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(US)'' A small stream; a [[creek]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put forth branches; to divide.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To develop or diverge from a main part.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''branch out'': to widen one's interests or activities.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[branchless]]

+ * [[branchy]]

+ * [[branched]]

+ * [[branchlet]]

+ * [[branch line]]

+ * [[branch water]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ranch]]

+ * [[bough]]

+ * [[pedigree]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}