Etymology

breakdown

break·down
B3R1E1A1K5D2O1W4N1

Today it means: A failure, particularly one which is mechanical in nature. Full definition →

English break downdeverb. ← Middle English doun ← Old English dūne
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰreg-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*bʰrégeti
  3. Proto-Germanic*brekaną
  4. Proto-West Germanic*brekan
  5. Old Englishbrecan
  6. Middle Englishbreken
  7. Englishbreak
  8. Old Englishof-
  9. Proto-Germanic*dūnaz?
  10. Proto-Indo-European*dewh₂-
  11. Proto-Indo-European*duh₂-nós?
  12. Proto-Celtic*dūnomder.?
  13. Proto-West Germanic*dūnā
  14. Old Englishdūne
  15. Old Englishofdūne
  16. Old Englishadūne
  17. Old Englishdūne
  18. Middle Englishdoun
  19. Englishdown
  20. Englishbreak downdeverb.
  21. English todaybreakdown

Deverbal from break down.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.