brink

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

Etymology

From Middle English brinke, from Proto-Germanic *brenkaz (compare Dutch brink (“grassland”), dialectal German Brunkel, Icelandic brekka (“slope”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰren- ‘project’ (compare Tocharian B prenke (“island”), Irish braine (“prow”)).

Noun

brink (plural brinks)

1. The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also used figuratively.

Derived terms

• on the brink

Translations

edge

• Armenian: եզր (hy) (ezr), ծայր (hy) (çayr)
• Bulgarian: край (bg) (kraj) m, ръб (bg) (rǎb) m
• Danish: kant (da), rand (da)
• Dutch: rand (nl), steile rand (nl)
• Finnish: reuna (fi), parras (fi)
• French: bord (fr) m, lisière (fr) f

• German: Rand (de) m
• Italian: orlo (it)
• Portuguese: beira (pt) f
• Russian: край (ru) (kraj) m, грань (ru) (granʹ) f
• Scottish Gaelic: oir (gd) f
• Spanish: borde (es) m

External links

• brink in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• brink in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911