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Origin and history of brook

brook(n.)

"small natural stream," Old English broc "flowing stream, torrent," of obscure origin, probably from Proto-Germanic *broka- which yielded words in German (Bruch) and Dutch (broek) that have a sense of "marsh, bog." In Sussex and Kent, it means "water-meadow," and in plural, "low, marshy ground."

brook(v.)

"to endure," Old English brucan "to use, enjoy the use of, possess; eat; cohabit with," from Proto-Germanic *brukjanan "to make use of, enjoy" (source also of Old Saxon brukan, Old Frisian bruka "to use, practice," Dutch gebruiken "to use," Old High German bruhhan, German brauchen "to use, need," Gothic brukjan), from PIE root *bhrug- "to enjoy." The sense of "use" as applied to food led to that of "be able to digest," and by 16c. to "endure, tolerate," always in a negative sense. The original meanings have become obsolete.

Entries linking to brook

Brooklyn

New York City borough, named for village founded there 1646 and named for Dutch township of Breukelen near Utrecht; which is from Old High German bruoh "moor, marshland." The spelling of U.S. place name was influenced by brook (n.), which probably is distantly related. Related: Brooklynese.

enjoy(v.)

late 14c., enjoien, "rejoice, be glad" (intransitive), from stem of Old French enjoir "give joy, rejoice, take delight in," from en- "make" (see en- (1)) + joir "enjoy," from Latin gaudere "rejoice" (see joy (n.), and compare joy (v.), which is the older verb).

The sense of "have the use or benefit of" (property) is recorded from early 15c.; also in this sense enjoice (c. 1400), replacing native brook (v.). The transitive meaning "take pleasure in" is from mid-15c.

It tends to lose its connection with pleasure: media photo captions say someone enjoys an ice cream cone, etc., when all she is certainly doing is eating it, and Wright's "English Dialect Dictionary" (1900) reports widespread use in north and west England of the phrase to enjoy bad health for one who has ailments.

The meaning "have sexual relations with" (a woman) is from 1590s. Related: Enjoyed; enjoys; enjoying. To enjoy oneself "feel pleasure or satisfaction in one's mind" is attested by 1708.

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More to explore

use
c. 1200, "employ for a purpose," from Old French user "employ, make use of, practice, frequent," from Vulgar Latin *usare "use," frequentative form of past participle stem of Latin uti "make use of, profit by, take advantage of, enjoy, apply, consume," in Old Latin oeti "use, emp
creek
mid-15c., creke "narrow inlet in a coastline," altered from kryk (early 13c.; in place names from 12c.), probably from Old Norse kriki "corner, nook," perhaps influenced by Anglo-French crique, itself from a Scandinavian source via Norman. Perhaps ultimately related to crook and
digest
late 14c., in reference to Justinian's law codes in ancient Rome, from Late Latin digesta, from neuter plural of Latin digestus, literally "digested thing," noun use of past participle of digerere "to separate, divide, arrange," etymologically "to carry apart," from dis- "apart"
rival
equal or exceed another" in some way; from Latin rivalis "a rival, adversary in love; neighbor," originally, "of the same brook...," from rivus "brook" (from PIE root *rei- "to run, flow")....
bourn
also bourne, "small stream," especially of the winter torrents of the chalk downs, Old English brunna, burna "brook, stream...
serum
to run, flow" (source also of Greek oros "whey, watery parts of curdled milk;" Sanskrit sarah "flowing, liquid," sarit "brook...
pond
Pond scum "free-floating freshwater algae" (Spirogyra) is from 1864 (also called frog-spittle and brook-silk; as figurative...
master
late Old English mægester "a man having control or authority over a place; a teacher or tutor of children," from Latin magister (n.) "chief, head, director, teacher" (source of Old French maistre, French maître, Spanish and Italian maestro, Portuguese mestre, Dutch meester, Germa
stream
Middle English strem "course of water, current of a stream, body of water flowing in a natural channel," from Old English stream, from Proto-Germanic *strauma- (source also of Old Saxon strom, Old Norse straumr, Danish strøm, Swedish ström, Norwegian straum, Old Frisian stram, Du
swallow
"ingest through the throat" (transitive), Middle English swolwen, from Old English swelgan "swallow, imbibe, absorb" (class III strong verb; past tense swealg, past participle swolgen), from Proto-Germanic *swelgan/*swelhan (source also of Old Saxon farswelgan, Old Norse svelgja

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