brere

Middle English

Alternative forms

• brer, breir

Etymology

From Old English brēr, brǣr (“briar; bramble”).

The variant pronunciation with /iː/ is unexpected. Compare with the vowel development in words such as frere (“friar”) and noumpere (“umpire”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /breːr/, /brɛːr/, /briːr/

Noun

brere

1. briar
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story via the 'title' parameter)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

     With thikke brustles of his berd unsofte,
     Lyk to the skyn of houndfyssh, sharp as brere.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: briar

References

• “brēr, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbreː.re/
• Rhymes: -eː.re

Noun

brēre

1. dative singular of brēr