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Origin and history of brooding

brooding(adj.)

1640s, "hovering, persistently overhanging" (as a mother bird does her nest), from present participle of brood (v.); meaning "that dwells moodily" is attested from 1818 (in "Frankenstein").

brooding(n.)

"action of incubating," c. 1400, verbal noun from brood (v.). Figuratively (of weather, etc.) from 1805; of mental fixations by 1873. Related: Broodingly.

also from c. 1400

Entries linking to brooding

brood(v.)

mid-15c., "sit on eggs for the purpose of hatching them," from brood (n.). The figurative meaning "meditate long and anxiously" (to "incubate in the mind") is attested by 1570s, from notion of "nursing" one's anger, resentment, etc. Related: Brooded; brooding. Brood mare "female horse kept for breeding" is from 1829.

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    contemplative
    mid-14c., "devoted to (sacred) contemplation, devout," from Old French contemplatif (12c.) and directly from Latin contemplativus "speculative, theoretical," formed (after Greek theoretikos) from contemplat-, past-participle stem of contemplari "to gaze attentively, observe; cons
    pensive
    late 14c., pensif, "sad, sorrowful, melancholy;" also "engaged in serious thought, meditative, contemplative;" from Old French pensif "thoughtful, distracted, musing" (11c.), from penser "to think," from Latin pensare "weigh, consider," frequentative of pendere "to hang, cause to
    west
    Old English west (adv.) "in or toward the west, in a westerly direction," from Proto-Germanic *west- (source also of Old Norse vestr, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch, Dutch west, Old High German -west, only in compounds, German west), which is of uncertain origin. Perhaps from PIE *wes
    stew
    late 14c., steuen, transitive "to bathe (a person or a body part) in a steam bath" (a sense now obsolete), from Old French estuver "have a hot bath, plunge into a bath; stew" (Modern French étuver), a word of uncertain origin. It is common Romanic (cognates: Spanish estufar, Ital
    hatch
    early 13c., hachen, "to produce young from eggs by incubation," probably from an unrecorded Old English *hæccan, of unknown origin, related to Middle High German, German hecken "to mate" (used of birds). Meaning "to come forth from an egg," also "cause to come forth from an egg"
    resent
    c. 1600, "feel pain or distress" (a sense now obsolete); 1620s, "take (something) ill, consider as an injury or affront; be in some degree angry or provoked at," from French ressentir "feel pain, regret," from Old French resentir "feel again, feel in turn" (13c.), from re-, here
    multiply
    mid-12c., multeplien, "to cause to become many, cause to increase in number or quantity," from Old French multiplier, mouteplier (12c.) "increase, get bigger; flourish; breed; extend, enrich," from Latin multiplicare "to increase," from multiplex (genitive multiplicis) "having ma
    birth
    c. 1200, "fact of being born;" mid-13c., "act of giving birth, a bringing forth by the mother, childbirth," sometimes in Middle English also "conception;" also "that which is born, offspring, child;" from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse *byrðr (replacing cognate Old Engli
    sit-down
    "that is done or which involves sitting down," 1836 in reference to meals; 1936 in reference to strikes where the workplace is occupied; from the verbal phrase meaning "take a seat, seat oneself" (c. 1200), from sit (v.) + down (adv.). Sit down (v.) meaning "put up (with)" is att
    dominate
    1610s, "to rule over, control by mastery," a back-formation from domination or else from Latin dominatus, past participle of dominari "to rule, dominate, to govern," from dominus "lord, master," from domus "house" (from PIE root *dem- "house, household"). Meaning "have chief infl

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