English
brad
Brad comes from Old Norse broddr ‘spike, shaft’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusdʰos.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrusdʰosreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bruzdaz‘point, spike, thorn’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350broddr‘spike, shaft’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brad
- Englishearliest quotation 1936brad
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrusdʰosreconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bruzdaz‘point, spike, thorn’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350broddr‘spike, shaft’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brad
- Englishearliest quotation 1936brad
Earliest quotation: 1936, Djuna Barnes, Nightwood: “Into the middle arch of each desk silver-headed brads…”
The story
Late Middle English brad, variant of brod(d), from Old Norse broddr (‘spike, shaft’), from Proto-Germanic *bruzdaz (compare Old English brord, Old High German brort), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusdʰos (compare Welsh brath (‘sting, prick’), Albanian bredh (‘fir-tree’), Lithuanian bruzdùklis (‘bridle’), Czech brzda (‘brake’).
Linked words
through Old Norse broddr ‘spike, shaft’
Today it means
noun A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusdʰos / brad