brawl

brawl · noun, verb¹

1. Middle English · inherited frombrall
2. Middle English · inherited frombraulen
3. English todaybrawl

The verb is derived from Late Middle English braulen, brall, brallen (“to clamour, to shout; to quarrel; to boast”); further etymology is uncertain, but the word could be related to bray and ultimately imitative. It may be cognate with Danish bralle (“to chatter, jabber”), Dutch brallen (“to boast”), Low German brallen (“to brag”), Middle High German prālen (“to boast, flaunt”) (modern German prahlen (“to boast, flaunt, vaunt”)). The noun is derived from Middle English brall, bralle, braul, braule, brawle (“disturbance, squabble; brawl”), from the verb braulen: see above.

brawl · verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰrenu-“to burn”
2. Vulgar Latin · derived from*brandus“firebrand; flaming sword; sword”
3. Old French · derived frombrandeler“to shake, wave; to agitate”
4. French · derived frombranler“to shake”
5. English todaybrawl

Possibly from French branler (“to shake”), from Old French brandeler (“to shake, wave; to agitate”), from brand, branc (“blade of a sword”), from Vulgar Latin *brandus (“firebrand; flaming sword; sword”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenu- (“to burn”).

brawl · noun³

1. Old French · derived frombrandeler“to shake, wave; to agitate”
2. French · derived frombranle“type of dance; an act of shaking, a shake”
3. English todaybrawl

From French branle (“type of dance; an act of shaking, a shake”), from branler (“to shake”), from Old French brandeler (“to shake, wave; to agitate”); see further at etymology 2. Alternatively, the word could be derived from brawl (“(obsolete) to move to and fro, quiver, shake”): see etymology 2.

Words from the same roots