Where does “broke” come from?

Broke comes from Middle English breken, Old English brecan, Proto-West Germanic brekan, Proto-Germanic brekaną, and ultimately Proto-Indo-European bʰreg-, from the root bʰer-.

broke (English): simple past tense of break; past participle of...

Definitions

  1. simple past tense of break; past participle of...

Ancestry of “broke”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishbroce—
2Old Englishgebrocfragment
3Old Englishbrecanto break; to break into a place
4Proto-West Germanicbrekanto break
5Proto-Germanicbrekanąto break
6Proto-Indo-Europeanbʰrēǵ-to shine, shimmer

Words derived from “broke”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European bʰrēǵ- →Every word from Proto-Germanic brekaną →Every word from Proto-West Germanic brekan →