*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of bree

From Middle English brewe, bre, bregh, from Old English brēġ (“eyelid”) (Anglian dialect). Compare West Saxon brǣw, brēaw, brēaġ (“eyelid”), from Proto-Germanic *brēwō. Cognate with Dutch (wenk)brauw, German Braue. Compa

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

The eyelid. · The eyebrow. · The brow; forehead.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English brewe, bre, bregh, from Old English brēġ (“eyelid”) (Anglian dialect). Compare West Saxon brǣw, brēaw, brēaġ (“eyelid”), from Proto-Germanic *brēwō. Cognate with Dutch (wenk)brauw, German Braue. Compare brae from the same source. Apparently related to brow.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "brewe"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English brewe"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "brēġ",
        "4": "",
        "5": "eyelid"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English brēġ (“eyelid”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "i",
      "args": {
        "1": "Anglian dialect"
      },
      "expansion": "(Anglian dialect)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*brēwō"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *brēwō"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "wenkbrauw",
        "3": "(wenk)brauw"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch (wenk)brauw"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Braue"
      },
      "expansion": "German Braue"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "brewe",
      "brewe#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "bre",
      "bre#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "bregh",
      "bregh#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "brēġ",
      "breg#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "brǣw",
      "bræw#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "brēaw",
      "breaw#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "brēaġ",
      "breag#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*brēwō",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/brēwō"
    ],
    [
      "(wenk)brauw",
      "wenkbrauw#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Braue",
      "Braue#German"
    ],
    [
      "brae",
      "brae#English"
    ],
    [
      "brow",
      "brow#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "The eyelid.",
        "The eyebrow.",
        "The brow; forehead."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Scotland",
        "dialectal",
        "obsolete"
      ],
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

Broth.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English bre, breie (“broth; gravy”), apparently from Old English brīw, brīġ (“pottage; porridge”), from Proto-West Germanic *brīw (“porridge; mash”), whence also German Brei, Dutch brij. Alternatively, the word could be a cognate of German Brühe (“broth”), from Middle High German brüeje, from the verb brüejen (“to scald, boil”), from Proto-Germanic *brōaną, whence modern German brühen, Dutch broeien, Middle Low German brȫjen. This is less likely, however, since the verb is not attested in English nor in Old Norse. Both paths eventually lead to the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil, toss, cook, brew”), whence also English broth and brew.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bre"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bre"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "brīw"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English brīw"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*brīw",
        "4": "",
        "5": "porridge; mash"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *brīw (“porridge; mash”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Brei"
      },
      "expansion": "German Brei"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "brij"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch brij"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Brühe",
        "3": "",
        "4": "broth"
      },
      "expansion": "German Brühe (“broth”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gmh",
        "2": "brüeje"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle High German brüeje"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gem-pro",
        "2": "*brōaną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *brōaną"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "brühen"
      },
      "expansion": "German brühen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "broeien"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch broeien"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "gml",
        "2": "brȫjen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle Low German brȫjen"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "broth"
      },
      "expansion": "English broth"
    }
  ],
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      "bre",
      "bre#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "breie",
      "breie#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "brīw",
      "briw#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "brīġ",
      "brig#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*brīw",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/brīw"
    ],
    [
      "Brei",
      "Brei#German"
    ],
    [
      "brij",
      "brij#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Brühe",
      "Brühe#German"
    ],
    [
      "brüeje",
      "brüeje#Middle_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "brüejen",
      "brüejen#Middle_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "*brōaną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/brōaną"
    ],
    [
      "brühen",
      "brühen#German"
    ],
    [
      "broeien",
      "broeien#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "brȫjen",
      "brojen#Middle_Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "*bʰrewh₁-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/bʰrewh₁-"
    ],
    [
      "broth",
      "broth#English"
    ],
    [
      "brew",
      "brew#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
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      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Broth."
      ],
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

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Contribute located evidence for bree →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YnJlZQ