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E 0126 BRUSH
The word " brush " is of
Germanic origin .
H 0277 ש ר ב
Concept of root : brush
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Hebrew word
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pronunciation
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English meanings
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ש ר ב
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berash
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to
brush
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Related English words
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brush
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Comparison between European words and Hebrew
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Languages
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Words
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Pronunciation
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English meanings
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Similarity in roots
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Hebrew
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ש ר ב; ו ש ר ב
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berash; berosh
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to brush;
tall tree (needle-leaved?) cypress
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b . r . sh
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Old English
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byrst
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brush
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b . r s t
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English
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brush
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brush
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b r . sh
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French
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brosse
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brosse
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brush
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b r . s
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German
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Bürste
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bürste
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brush
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b . r s t
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Dutch
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borstel
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borstel
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brush
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b . r s t
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Hebrew *BERASH --- *BRUSH English
The basis for a possible common origin of the words of this entry is practically absent. The verb " berash" of this entry is modern Hebrew, derived from the noun "mivreshet = brush", from "mivrasha" as coined by Eliezer ben Yehudah, on the basis of the Indo European words of this entry. Obviously we see a loan, and not a common origin. The reason why we have it in our list of similarities is the following . Brushes have existed for millennia and in Israel there were certainly brushes made of the needles of trees, such as pines and cedars. A biblical word for such trees is "berosh" and this just might be related to the root "B.R.S." Understandably the Jews did not use the bristle of impure swines .
There is no full certainty about the names of various big trees, with some people translating "berosh" also as " cypress" . But a cypress, a tree without needles, certainly was a "te'arush" and this word is clearly distinguished in the Bible from " berosh " . Modern language uses berosh" for "cypress" though. But in old language a " berosh" was also a juniper, a quite different tree again. And, another problem, Hebrew has also a version "berot", akin to Aramaic "beratà". This means that tha root "B R SH" for the name of tall trees might just be a Hebrew development out of a Proto-Semitic "*B R T".
We refer to some other European words to show that English is nearest to the Hebrew root, though generally "brush" is seen as derived from French "brosse". Meanwhile no etymology has been found for the European words. Once more the similarity with Hebrew gives an opening. One notes the difference in position of the vowel in the various European words, due to metathesis . Hebrew as usual places two vowels between three consonants.
Note:
- German "Bürste " sounds a bit like "Borst" that stands for the female bust. Consequently some people say that the two are related. Old High German for bust had "bursta", probably a female version of "burst", with an A as a female suffix . In modern German the word is "Brust", with a metathesis, comparable of course with English "breast". Then this is all seen as having as basic meaning " to thrust out ". Well, even in old times, the only thrusting out breasts were those of very young girls, and not all by far at that. Anyhow, all this has no semantic link to a brush.
Note:
- English and French. French "brosse" must be seen as of Germanic origin and possibly " brush " is a loanword from French, but more probably it is a mixture created in Middle English.
Note:
- Old English and Dutch. Dutch " borstel " has two meanings. One is that of " brush " the
other is shared with Old English "brystl", that has given "bristle" and means "hog’s hair,
hog’s bristles". The letters "L" are suffixes.
People tend to conclude that "borstel" comes from the name for "hog’s hair", but Old English
shows that in fact "brystle " is either independent from "byrst" or a new construction after
" byrst". One notes the metathesis between the two Old English words.
Note:
- Proto-Germanic. Seen the high improbability of a common origin we do not have to go deep into this. We just remark that the Germanic words for "brush" seem indeed related to "bar" or "barr" that in several languages stands for "needle-leaved tree". But the "brushes" instead of an "A" have an "O" or "U" or "I" as vowel. Examples are in Old Saxon with "bars" and Bursta" and in Old Norse with "barr" and "bursti".
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| Created: Tuesday 6 November 2007 at 22.30.54 Updated: 10/10/2012 at 11.28.10 |
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