English
bruise
Bruise comes from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- ‘to break’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrews-‘to break’next step skipped: Old English brȳsan
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bruisen
- Englishearliest quotation 1854bruise
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrews-‘to break’next step skipped: Old English brȳsan
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bruisen
- Englishearliest quotation 1854bruise
Earliest quotation: 1854, Arthur Pendennis pseudonym; William Make, The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family: “Bruising was considered a fine, manly, old English custom.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- ‘to break’
Today it means
verb To strike (a person), originally with something flat or heavy, but now specifically in such a way as to discolour the skin without breaking it; to contuse.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- / bruise