brecan

From Proto-West Germanic *brekan, from Proto-Germanic *brekaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg-.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbre.kɑn/

brecan

1. to break

   Synonyms: brēatan, berstan, brēotan, brīetan

   • c. 980, Exeter Book Riddle 4:

     Iċ sċeal þrāgbysiġ · þeġne mīnum,
     hringan hæfted, · hȳran ġeorne,
     mīn bed brecan, · breahtme cȳþan
     þæt mē halswriþan · hlāford sealde.

     Busy with time, I should keenly
     hearken my servant, grasped by rings,
     break my bed, make known by noise
     that lord gave me a neck collar.

2. to break into a place
   • c. 893, Alfred the Great, Doom Book

     Ġif þēof brece mannes hūs nihtes and hē weorðe þǣr ofslæġen, ne sīe hē nā mansleġes sċyldiġ. Ġif hē siþþan æfter sunnan upgange þis dēþ, hē biþ mansleġes sċyldiġ, and hē þonne self swelte, būtan hē nīeddǣda wǣre.

     If a robber breaks into someone's house at night and the homeowner kills them, the homeowner is not guilty of murder. But if they do this after sunrise, they are guilty of murder, and they will die too, unless they acted out of necessity.

• *brucol
• *bryċel

• Middle English: breken, brake, breek, brek, breke, breyken, breoken (AB language)
  • English: break
  • Middle Scots: brek, breke
    • Scots: brack, breck, brak, brek
  • Yola: brough, brocke, brek