Etymology

breath

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Today it means: The act or process of breathing. Full definition →

Middle English breeth ← Old English brǣþ ← Proto-West Germanic *brāþi
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The story

  1. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*brāþi“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”
  2. Old English · inherited frombrǣþ“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”
  3. Middle English · inherited frombreeth
  4. English todaybreath

From Middle English breeth, breth, from Old English brǣþ (“odor, scent, stink, exhalation, vapor”), from Proto-West Germanic *brāþi (“vapour, waft, exhalation, breath”) (compare German Brodem (“haze, vapor; breath”), of a different but related formation).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.