The story
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*brestaną“to burst”
- Proto-Germanic · inherited from*brustanaz
- Old English · inherited fromborsten
- Middle English · inherited frombursten
- English todaybursten
From Middle English bursten, borsten, from Old English borsten, ġeborsten, from Proto-Germanic *brustanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *brestaną (“to burst”). More at burst.
Words from the same roots
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.