English
brass
Brass comes from Old English bræs ‘brass, bronze’.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bræs‘brass, bronze’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bras
- Englishearliest quotation 1869brass
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150bræs‘brass, bronze’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bras
- Englishearliest quotation 1869brass
Earliest quotation: 1869, John Bruce, Calendar of State Papers: “At the Council board, I hope to charge him…”
The story
Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (‘brazen’), from or related to *brasō (‘fire, pyre’).
Every English word from Old English bræs
Today it means
noun A memorial or sepulchral tablet usually made of brass or latten: a monumental brass.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English bræs / brass