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Origin and history of bramble

bramble(n.)

Old English bræmbel "rough, prickly shrub" (especially the blackberry bush), with euphonic -b- (which then caused the vowel to shorten), from earlier bræmel, from Proto-Germanic *bræmaz (see broom). Related: Brambleberry "blackberry" (late Old English).

Entries linking to bramble

broom(n.)

Old English brom, popular name for several types of shrubs common throughout Europe (used medicinally and for fuel) and characterized by long, slender branches and many yellow flowers, from Proto-Germanic *bræmaz "thorny bush" (source also of Dutch braam, German Brombeere "blackberry"), from PIE *bh(e)rem- "to project; a point."

As "twigs of broom tied together to a handle to make a tool for sweeping," mid-14c. Traditionally, both the flowers and sweeping with broom twigs were considered unlucky in May (Suffolk, Sussex, Wiltshire, etc.). A new broom sweeps clean is attested by 1660s.

blackberry(n.)

"fruit of the bramble," early 12c., from Old English blaceberian, from black (adj.) + berry. So called for the color. Also in Old English as bremelberie, bremelæppel (from bramble). The wireless handheld device of the same name was introduced 1999 and decommissioned in 2022. Related: Blackberrying.

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