bre

See also: Bre, BrE, BRE, -bre, Bré, and ʼbrê

Translingual

Symbol

bre

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Breton.

Albanian

Etymology

From Greek βρε (vre), from Greek μωρέ (moré, “stupid”, vocative). Doublet of more.

Interjection

bre

1. A friendly exclamation to a person.

   Folni bre, burra!

   Speak, therefore, men!

2. An exclamation of surprise.

   Bre! Po ç'është kjo?

   Man! What is this?

Related terms

• brez
• pra

Middle English

Noun

bre

1. Alternative form of brewe

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Of uncertain origin.

Noun

bre m (definite singular breen, indefinite plural breer, definite plural breene)

1. a glacier

Synonyms

• isbre

Derived terms

• breerosjon

Etymology 2

From Old Norse breiða.

Verb

bre (imperative bre, present tense brer, passive bres, simple past bredde or bredte, past participle bredd or bredt, present participle breende)

1. (also reflexive) to spread

Alternative forms

• breie (Nynorsk also)

Derived terms

• utbre

References

• “bre” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “bre_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “bre_3” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• brede

Etymology

Of uncertain origin. Compare to Icelandic breði and Icelandic breðafönn

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /breː/

Noun

bre m (definite singular breen, indefinite plural brear, definite plural breane)

1. a glacier

Synonyms

• isbre
• fonn (a smaller one)

Derived terms

• breerosjon

References

• “bre” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بره (bre), from Byzantine Greek βρέ (bré), probably shortened from μωρέ (mōré, “man!”, literally “fool!”) (modern Greek μωρέ (moré)), a frozen vocative of Ancient Greek μωρός (mōrós, “stupid”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bre/
• Rhymes: -e

Interjection

bre

1. hey, dude
2. wow

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish brí (“hill”), from Proto-Celtic *brixs, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰŕ̥ǵʰs. Distantly cognate with English borough.

Noun

bre m

1. (obsolete) hill
2. (obsolete) headland

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بره (bre), from Greek μωρέ (moré). Doublet of mȏre.

Interjection

bre (Cyrillic spelling бре)

1. (Serbia, colloquial) used to insist on or emphasize something being said or commanded, often also stressing the speaker’s perception of evidentness of the thing insisted on: bro, man, I say, I’m telling you, can’t you see
2. (Serbia, colloquial) used to insist on an answer to or emphasize a question: on earth, the hell

   Šta si bre to uradio!? ― What the hell did you just do!?

3. (Serbia, colloquial) used to intensify a preceding interjection

Usage notes

When marking a statement or question as insistent, bre is ordinarily found either immediately after the verb or at the end of the sentence. However, if an interjection or vocative is present, it can instead appear next to it, following an interjection and following or preceding a vocative. In wh-questions bre can also follow the interrogative pronoun.

Bre is also used in sentences in a similar way to "bro" in English.

Related terms

• bwe

Descendants

• → German: Bre
• → Swedish: bre

References

• Jasmina Milićević (2012) “Šta ustvari znači to bre? ‘What does this bre mean, actually?’ Defining Serbian interjection bre ≈ ‘I’m telling / asking you!’”
• Mirjana Mišković-Luković, Mirjana N. Dedaić, and Vladimir Polomac (2015) “The meaning and interpretation of the Serbian discourse marker BRE” in Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 87, pages 18–30

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /breː/

Etymology 1

From breda.

Verb

bre (present brer, preterite bredde, supine brett, imperative bre)

1. (sometimes colloquial) Apocopic form of breda (“to spread”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian bre. Compare German Bre.

Interjection

bre

1. (slang) bro (as a term of address)

   Sho bre!

   Sup bro!

2. (slang) Emphasizes a statement or question.

   Det här spelet är fett svårt bre

   This game is super difficult, I'm telling you

Derived terms

• shobresvenska

References

• bre in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bre in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• Slangopedia

Anagrams

• ber

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بره (bre), from Byzantine Greek βρέ (bré) (compare modern Greek βρε (vre) and ρε (re), Serbo-Croatian bre, Albanian bre), probably shortened from μωρέ (mōré, “man!”, literally “fool!”) (modern Greek μωρέ (moré)), a frozen vocative of Ancient Greek μωρός (mōrós, “stupid”).

Interjection

bre

1. hey
2. yo (slang)

Synonyms

• ey
• hey

Descendants

• → Armenian: պռե (pṙe)
• → Ladino: bre
• → Romanian: bre