Etymology

brad

B3R1A1D2

Today it means: A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin. Full definition →

Middle English brad ← Old Norse broddr ← Proto-Germanic *bruzdaz
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brad · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰrusdʰos
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*bruzdaz
  3. Old Norse · derived frombroddr“spike, shaft”
  4. Middle English · inherited frombrad
  5. English todaybrad

Late Middle English brad, variant of brod(d), from Old Norse broddr (“spike, shaft”), from Proto-Germanic *bruzdaz (compare Old English brord, Old High German brort), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusdʰos (compare Welsh brath (“sting, prick”), Albanian bredh (“fir-tree”), Lithuanian bruzdùklis (“bridle”), Czech brzda (“brake”). Doublet of prod.

Brad · proper noun, noun2

Clipping.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.