Where does “brakeman” come from?
Brakeman combines English brake, from Middle English man and Old Dutch brecan, ultimately deriving from Proto-Indo-European bʰreg- meaning to break.
brakeman (English): A railroad employee responsible for a train's...
Definitions
- A railroad employee responsible for a train's...
Ancestry of “brakeman”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | brake | A fern; bracken; A thicket, or an area overgrown... |
| 2 | Middle Low German | brake | stump, branch; nose ring, curb, flax brake |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | *brekan | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | brekaną | to break |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰrēǵ- | to shine, shimmer |