brink

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪŋk

Etymology

From Middle English brinke, from Proto-Germanic *brinkaz (compare Dutch brink (“grassland”), dialectal German Brunkel, Icelandic brekka (“slope”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰren- ‘project’ (compare Tocharian B prenke (“island”), Irish braine (“prow”)).

Noun

brink (plural brinks)

1. The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge, as of a river or pit; a verge; a border; as, the brink of a chasm. Also used figuratively.

Derived terms

• on the brink

Translations

edge

• Armenian: եզր (ezr), ծայր (cayr)
• Bulgarian: край (bg) m (kraj), ръб (bg) m (rǎb)
• Danish: kant, rand
• Dutch: rand (nl), steile rand
• Finnish: reuna (fi), parras (fi)
• French: bord (fr) m, lisière (fr) f
• German: Rand (de) m

• Irish: broinne m
• Italian: orlo (it)
• Portuguese: beira (pt) f
• Russian: край (ru) m (kraj), грань (ru) f (granʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: oir f
• Spanish: borde (es) m

External links

• brink in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• brink in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch brinc, from Old Dutch brink. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *brinkaz. Cognate with English brink.

Noun

brink m (plural brinken, diminutive brinkje n)

1. edge or margin of a field
2. edge or margin of a hill
3. grassy edge or margin of a strip of land
4. grassland