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Origin and history of brier

brier(n.1)

"thorny shrub, heath," 1540s, a variant of Middle English brere, from Old English brer (Anglian), brær (West Saxon) "brier, bramble, prickly bush," which is of unknown origin. Briar is the most recent variant (c. 1600). Originally used of prickly, thorny bushes in general, now mostly restricted to wild rose bushes (sweet briar). Used figuratively (in plural) for "troubles" from c. 1500. French bruyère "heath plant" (source of brier (n.2)) is considered to be unrelated.

brier(n.2)

type of tobacco pipe introduced to England c. 1859 and made from the root of a certain shrub (Erica arborea) in the south of France and Corsica, 1868, from French bruyère "heath plant," from Old French bruiere "heather, briar, heathland, moor" (12c.), from Gallo-Roman *brucaria, from Late Latin brucus "heather," from Gaulish *bruko- (compare Breton brug "heath," Welsh brwg, Old Irish froech). The form was altered in English by influence of brier (n.1).

also from c. 1859

Entries linking to brier

briar(n.)

see brier (n.1).

Erica

fem. proper name, feminine form of Eric. The plant genus is Modern Latin, from Greek ereike "tree heather," which resembles words for "heather" in Celtic and Balto-Slavic, all of which were perhaps borrowed from a common source (see brier (n.2)).

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    flora
    c. 1500, "Roman goddess of flowers;" 1777, "the plant life of a region or epoch," from Latin Flora, "goddess of flowers," from flos (accusative florem, genitive floris) "flower," from *flo-s-, Italic suffixed form of PIE *bhle- "to blossom, flourish" (source also of Middle Irish
    Eros
    god of love, late 14c., from Greek eros (plural erotes), "god or personification of love; (carnal) love," from eran, eramai, erasthai "to desire," which is of uncertain origin. Beekes suggests it is from Pre-Greek. The Freudian sense of "urge to self-preservation and sexual pleas
    rose
    a fragrant shrub noted for its beauty and its thorns, cultivated from remote antiquity, Old English rose, from Latin rosa (source of Italian and Spanish rosa, French rose; also source of Dutch roos, German Rose, Swedish ros, Serbo-Croatian ruža, Polish róża, Russian roza, Lithuan
    sore
    Middle English sore, from Old English sar "painful, grievous, aching, sad, wounding," influenced in meaning by Old Norse sarr "sore, wounded," from Proto-Germanic *sairaz "suffering, sick, ill" (source also of Old Frisian sar "painful," Middle Dutch seer, Dutch zeer "sore, ache,"
    vein
    c. 1300, from Old French veine "vein, artery, pulse" (12c.), from Latin vena "a blood vessel," also "a water course, a vein of metal, a person's natural ability or interest," of unknown origin. The mining sense is attested in English from late 14c. (Greek phleps "vein" had the sa
    vine
    c. 1300, "plant which bears the grapes from which wine is made," from Old French vigne "vine, vineyard" (12c.), from Latin vinea "vine, vineyard," from vinum "wine," from PIE *win-o- "wine," an Italic noun related to words for "wine" in Greek, Armenian, Hittite, and non-Indo-Euro
    tree
    Old English treo, treow "tree" (also "timber, wood, beam, log, stake"), from Proto-Germanic *trewam (source also of Old Frisian tre, Old Saxon trio, Old Norse tre, Gothic triu "tree"), from PIE *drew-o-, suffixed variant form of root *deru- "be firm, solid, steadfast," with speci
    heath
    Old English hæð "untilled land, tract of wasteland," especially flat, shrubby, desolate land;" earlier "heather, plants and shrubs found on heaths," influenced by cognate Old Norse heiðr "heath, moor," both from Proto-Germanic *haithiz (source also of Old Saxon hetha, Old High Ge
    horse
    "solidungulate perissodactyl mammal of the family Equidæ and genus Equus" [Century Dictionary], Old English hors "horse," from Proto-Germanic *harss- (source also of Old Norse hross, Old Frisian, Old Saxon hors, Middle Dutch ors, Dutch ros, Old High German hros, German Roß "horse
    patch
    "piece of cloth used to mend another material," late 14c., pacche, of obscure origin, perhaps a variant of pece, pieche, from Old North French pieche (see piece (n.1)), or from an unrecorded Old English word (Old English had claðflyhte for "a patch"). Meaning "portion of any surf

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