English
brigade
Brigade comes from Italian brigare ‘to connive, to strive to obtain by…’, and goes back to briga ‘trouble, bother’.
- Italianc. 1300–presentbriga‘trouble, bother’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentbrigare‘to connive, to strive to obtain by questionable means’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentbrigata
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600brigade
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 1969same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Italianc. 1300–presentbriga‘trouble, bother’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentbrigare‘to connive, to strive to obtain by questionable means’
- Italian, derivedc. 1300–presentbrigata
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600brigade
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form
- Englishearliest quotation 1969same form
Earliest quotation: 1969, William O. Douglas's opinion in Brandenb: “This is, however, a classic case where speech is…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’
fraction, fragile, fracture, bracket, refrain, fragment, breaker, suffrage, frail, fret, bray, fractal, refractory, infringe, breech, brogan, brogue, 36 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrégeti
through Proto-Germanic *brekaną ‘to break’
Today it means
noun A group of people organized for a common purpose.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Italian briga / brigade