brick

brick · noun, verb, adjective¹

1. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*brekan“to break”
2. Middle Dutch · derived frombricke
3. Middle English · inherited frombrik
4. English todaybrick

From Late Middle English brik, bryke, bricke, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch bricke ("cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch brik), ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *brekan (“to break”), whence also Old French briche and French brique (“brick”). Compare also German Low German Brickje (“small board, tray”). Related to break. The social media slang sense derives from memes about building up one's feed “brick by brick”, analogizing bricks with reels that inform the algorithm. The sense of a helpful, reliable person comes from Lycurgus referring to the army as the walls of Sparta, every man a brick.

Brick · proper noun²

* As an English surname, from the noun bridge. This aligns more closely with the pronunciation of its ancestors, Middle English brigge, Old English brycg. * As a Polish surname, from Brych, which has the same pronunciation.

Words from the same roots