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

  1. A railroad employee responsible for a train's...

Ancestry of “brakeman”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbrakeA fern; bracken; A thicket, or an area overgrown...
2Middle Low Germanbrakestump, branch; nose ring, curb, flax brake
3Proto-Germanic*brekan—
4Proto-Germanicbrekanąto break
5Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰrēǵ-to shine, shimmer
Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰrēǵ- →Every word from Proto-Germanic brekaną →Every word from Proto-Germanic *brekan →