bruise

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• bruize (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English bruisen, brusen, from Anglo-Norman bruiser, bruser ‘to break, smash’, from Gaulish *brusu (compare Old Irish brúu ‘I shatter, smash’), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreus- ‘to break’ (compare Latin frustum ‘bit, scrap’, Old Church Slavic бръснути (brŭsnuti) ‘to rake’, Albanian breshër ‘hail’).
Replaced early modern English brise (compare Scots brizz), from Middle English brisen, bresen, from Old English brȳsan, briesan ‘to crush’, from Proto-Germanic *brausijanan, causative from the same PIE root. Cognate with Old English brosnian (“to crumble, fall apart”), Dutch broos (“brittle”), German Brosame (“crumb”), Norwegian dialect brøysk (“breakable”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: bro͞oz, IPA: /bɹuːz/, SAMPA: /bru:z/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Homophone: brews
• Rhymes: -uːz

Verb

bruise (third-person singular simple present bruises, present participle bruising, simple past and past participle bruised)

1. (transitive) 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.
2. (transitive) To damage the skin of (fruit), in an analogous way.
3. (intransitive) Of fruit, to gain bruises through being handled roughly.

   Bananas bruise easily.

4. (intransitive, medicine) To bruise easily.

   I bruise easily.

Derived terms

• bruiser
• bruising

Translations

strike (a person), giving them a bruise

Dutch: slaan (nl) Finnish: mukiloida (fi), hakata (fi) mustelmille (fi) French: contusionner (fr), meurtrir (fr)

Romanian: zgâria (ro) Russian: ушибить (ru) Spanish: magullar (es)

cause fruit to bruise

Bulgarian: натъртвам (bg) Finnish: kolhia (fi) mustelmille (fi)

French: taler (fr), cotir (fr) Spanish: mazar, magullar (es), machacar (es)

of fruit, to gain bruises

Bulgarian: натъртвам се (bg) Czech: otlouct se (cs) Finnish: saada (fi) mustelmia (fi), kolhiintua (fi)

French: se taler (fr), se cotir (fr), s'abîmer (fr) Spanish: estropearse

medical: to get bruised

Bulgarian: натъртвам се (bg) Finnish: saada (fi) mustelmia (fi) French: se faire un bleu (fr)

Russian: ушибаться (ru) Spanish: magullarse, salirse moratones, moretonearse (es), amoratarse (es)

A bruise (def. 1) caused by a handrail

A bruise (def. 2) on a quince

Noun

bruise (plural bruises)

1. (medicine) A purplish mark on the skin due to leakage of blood from capillaries under the surface that have been damaged by a blow.
2. A dark mark on fruit caused by a blow to its surface.

Synonyms

• (medical): ecchymosis, contusion (technical term)
• See also Wikisaurus:injury

Translations

medical: mark on the skin

Arabic: كدمة (ar) (kadma) f. Armenian: կապտուկ (hy) (kaptuk) Bulgarian: синка (bg) f., натъртено място (bg) Catalan: blau (ca) m. Chinese: 挫伤 Croatian: màsnica (hr) f., mòdrica (hr) f. Czech: podlitina (cs) f., modřina (cs) f. Dutch: blauwe plek Esperanto: kontuzo (eo) Finnish: mustelma (fi) French: bleu (fr) m., contusion (fr) f., ecchymose (fr) f., meurtrissure (fr) f.

Galician: mazadura (gl) f., negrón (gl) m., hematoma (fr) m. Georgian: დალურჯებული ადგილი (ka) (dalurǰebuli adgili) German: Bluterguss m., blauer Fleck m. Italian: livido (it) m. Polish: siniak (pl) m. Portuguese: hematoma (pt) m. Russian: синяк (ru) (sinják) m., ушиб (ru) (ušíb) m., кровоподтёк (ru) (krovopodtjók) m. Scottish Gaelic: pronnadh (gd) m. Spanish: moratón (es) m. Swahili: chubuko (sw) Welsh: briw (cy) m., clais (cy) m.

mark on fruit

Catalan: blau (ca) m. Dutch: rotte plek (a bruise), beurze plek Finnish: mustelma (fi) French: (rare) talure (fr) f., cotissure (fr) f., meurtrissure (fr) f.

Galician: mazadura (gl) f., negrón (gl) m. Russian: побитость (ru) (pobítost') f. Scottish Gaelic: pronnadh (gd) m. Spanish: maca (es) f.

Anagrams

• buries
• busier
• rubies

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Dutch

Verb

bruise

1. singular present subjunctive of bruisen.