Brodem

See also: brodem

German

Etymology

With widespread dialectal -ā- → -ō- from Middle High German brādem, from Old High German brādam, from Proto-Germanic **brēþmaz, probably a secondary alteration of *brēþiz by conflation with *ēþmaz, whence German Atem, Odem. Cognate with English breath.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʁoːdəm/

Noun

Brodem m (genitive Brodems, no plural)

1. (dated, literary) vapor
2. (dated, literary) strong smell
   • 1924, Kurt Tucholsky, Vor Verdun, in: Die Weltbühne, volume 20, no. 32, Verlag der Weltbühne, page 219:

     Einer raucht einen beißenden Tabak, und man wittert die Soldatenatmosphäre, die überall auf der ganzen Welt gleich war: den Brodem von Leder, Schweiß, Heu, Essensgeruch, Tabak und Menschenausdünstung.

     One smokes a stinging tabacco and you scent the soldier's atmosphere that was the same everywhere in the whole world: the strong smell of leather, sweat, hay, smell of food, tobacco and human perspiration.

Further reading

• “Brodem” in Duden online