English
embroil
Embroil comes from French embrouiller ‘to entangle’, from brouiller ‘to confuse, mix up’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-‘to boil’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bruþą‘stock, broth’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*broþ‘broth’reconstructed
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEbrodium‘broth, stew’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*brodiculārereconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400brouiller
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘to confuse, mix up’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentembrouiller‘to entangle’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667embroil
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-‘to boil’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bruþą‘stock, broth’reconstructed
- Frankishc. 250–700*broþ‘broth’reconstructed
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEbrodium‘broth, stew’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*brodiculārereconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400brouiller
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
- Frenchc. 1600–presentsame form‘to confuse, mix up’
- French, derivedc. 1600–presentembrouiller‘to entangle’
- Englishearliest quotation 1667embroil
Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book II: “Rumor next and Chance, / And Tumult and Confuſion…”
The story
The verb is borrowed from French embrouiller (‘to entangle’), from em- (a variant of en- (prefix meaning ‘in; into’)) + brouiller (‘to confuse, mix up’) (ultimately from Vulgar Latin *brodiculāre, from *brodicāre, from Late Latin brodium (‘broth, stew; mixture’), from Frankish *broþ (‘broth’), from Proto-Germanic *bruþą (‘stock, broth’), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (‘to boil; to brew’)).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil’
brand, burn, purple, bread, bourbon, brew, bourne, fervor, fervent, brunt, ferment, brim, effervescent, bren, porphyry, purpura, briny, 40 more
through Proto-Germanic *bruþą ‘stock, broth’
through French brouiller ‘to confuse, mix up’
Today it means
verb To bring (something) into a state of confusion or uproar; to complicate, to confuse, to jumble.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- / embroil