branc

Old French

Alternative forms

• brant, brand, brank

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *brandus (“firebrand, flaming sword, sword”), from Frankish *brand, *brant (“firebrand, flaming sword”), from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“firebrand, torch, sword”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenu- (“to burn”). Cognate with Old High German brant (“fire, firebrand, burning iron”), Old English brand (“fire, flame, brand, torch, sword, weapon”), Old Norse brandr (“fire, firebrand, sword”). More at brand.

Noun

branc oblique singular, m (oblique plural brans, nominative singular brans, nominative plural branc)

1. blade of a sword
   • 12^th Century, Unknown, Raoul de Cambrai:

     En la cervele li fist le branc baignier.

     He bathed his blade in his brain.

Descendants

• Middle French: brand
  • French: brand (archaic)
• ⇒ Old French: brandeler
  • Middle French: bransler
    • French: branler
  • Walloon: branler

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (brant)