breed English · revision 7936

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 850|origins=gem-pro *brōdijaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɹiːd/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English breden, [[inh|ang|brēdan|t=to bring young to birth; cherish, keep warm]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) earlier brœdan,^(Barnhart 1988) from West Germanic *brōdjan,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) source also of German [[m|de|brüten|t=to brood, hatch]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from *brōd-, [[brood]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from PIE *bʰrew-, to boil, bubble, burn.^(Etymonline) Barnhart notes that breed and brood are related like feed and food or bleed and blood.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To bring young to birth, hatch: before 850 in an Old English glossary.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The etymological notion is incubation, warming to hatch.^(Etymonline) To come into being is from about 1200, and to beget or bear offspring from the mid-13th century.^(Etymonline) Of livestock, to produce by mating and rear for use, it is from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) To grow up, be reared, is from the late 14th century, and to form by education from the mid-15th.^(Etymonline) The noun, race or stock, is first recorded in 1465 in breedgoose,^(Barnhart 1988) and of animals from 1553, of men from 1596, and a kind or sort from 1588.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In dialect breed meant to give rise to an illness.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 850 – to hatch.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1200 – to come into being.^(Etymonline)

+ * mid-14th century – to raise livestock.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1465 – the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1588 – a kind.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To produce offspring; to give birth to or [[hatch]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To keep animals or plants in order to produce young, especially of improved kinds.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To bring up or raise.^(Collins 2023)

+ # To cause or give rise to: ''to breed trouble''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of animals or plants within a species with shared characteristics, developed by selective breeding.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A kind or sort.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[breedable]]

+ * [[breeder]]

+ * [[breeding]]

+ * [[colorbreed]]

+ * [[crossbreed]]

+ * [[inbreed]]

+ * [[interbreed]]

+ * [[outbreed]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[brood]]

+ * [[bred]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}