debris

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰrest-“to separate, burst”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*brestaną“to break, burst”
3. Frankish · derived from*bristijan
4. Old French · derived fromdebrisier
5. Middle French · derived fromdebriser“to break apart”
6. French · borrowed fromdébris
7. English todaydebris

Borrowed from French débris, itself from dé- (“de-, off-”) + bris (“broken, crumbled”), or from Middle French debriser (“to break apart”), from Old French debrisier, itself from de- + brisier (“to break apart, shatter, bust”), from Frankish *bristijan, *bristan, *brestan (“to break violently, shatter, bust”), from Proto-Germanic *brestaną (“to break, burst”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrest- (“to separate, burst”). Cognate with Old High German bristan (“to break asunder, burst”), Old English berstan (“to break, shatter, burst”), German bersten (“to burst”). Related to burst.

Words from the same roots