Etymology

upbraid

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Today it means: To criticize severely. Full definition →

Middle English upbreiden ← Old English upbreġdan ← Proto-West Germanic *bregdan
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*upó
  2. Proto-Germanic*ub
  3. Proto-Germanic*upp
  4. Proto-West Germanic*upp
  5. Old Englishup
  6. Old Englishup-
  7. Proto-Germanic*bregdaną
  8. Proto-West Germanic*bregdan
  9. Old Englishbreġdan
  10. Old Englishupbreġdan
  11. Middle Englishupbreiden
  12. English todayupbraid

From Middle English upbreiden, from Old English upbreġdan, equivalent to up- + braid. Compare English umbraid (“to upbraid”), Icelandic bregða (“to draw, brandish, braid, deviate from, change, break off, upbraid”). See up, and braid (transitive).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.