▪ I. brook, n.
(brʊk)
Forms: 1 bróc, 2–3 broc, 3–4 brok, 4 bruche, 4–6 broke, 5–7 brooke, 5–6 bruke, 4– brook.
[OE. bróc masc., corresponding in form to MDu. broek m., mod.Du. broek n., LG. brôk marsh, bog, OHG. bruoh, MHG. bruoch n. and m., marshy ground, morass, Ger. bruch m. and n., moor, marsh, bog, fen. A similar range of meaning appears in MHG. ouwe water, stream, watery land, island; and cf. bache. The ulterior derivation of the WGer. *brôka- is uncertain; it has been doubtfully referred to brek-an to break, as ‘that which breaks or bursts forth’; cf. spring, ‘that which springs forth’.]
1. A small stream, rivulet; orig. a torrent, a strong flowing stream.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. vi, Hwæt eac se broc, þeah he swiþe of his rihtryne. c 1050 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 178 Fluuius, singalflowende ea; riuus, rið; latex, burna; torrens, broc; riuulus, lytel rið. c 1205 Lay. 10827 Þat ..wurpen hine in ænne broc. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 1073 Vpon þe brokez brym. c 1450 Merlin xi. 167 In the brooke were wylde gees that hem dide bathe. c 1450 Henryson Mor. Fab. 86, I drinke beneth you far, Ergo, for mee your bruke was neuer the war. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xli[i]. 1 Like as the hert desyreth the water brokes. 1538 Starkey England 16 Yssue..as Brokys out of fountaynys. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 53 Smooth runnes the Water, where the Brooke is deepe. 1600 ― A.Y.L. ii. i. 16 This our life..Findes tongues in trees, bookes in the running brookes, Sermons in stones. 1597 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 24 Among the water broxe. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 450 These rivers are fed by numberless brooks from every part of the country. 1864 Tennyson (title) The Brook. |
b. transf. A stream, a ‘torrent’ (e.g. of blood).
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 258 Þet ilke dei þet he bledde..brokes of ful brode & deope wunden. c 1240 Ureisun in Lamb. Hom. 187 Þi blod isched on þe rode..þe large broc of þi softe side. |
† 2. The stream or ‘flood’ of the sea. Obs. rare.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 145 When þe breth & þe brok & þe bote metten. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as brook-bank, brook-side; brook-bounded adj.; brook ouzel or brook runner, the water-rail (Rallus aquaticus).
| 1861 L. L. Noble Icebergs 161 Along the *brook-banks under the Catskills. |
| 1839 Bailey Festus xx. (1848) 238 *Brook-bounded pine spinnies. |
| 1678 Ray Willughby's Ornith. 314 The Water-Rail, called by some the Bilcock or *Brook-Owzel. |
| 1837 Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1871) I. 42 Strawberries were scattered along the *brookside. |
b. in plant-names, as brook betony, Scrophularia aquatica; † brook leek, Arum dracunculus; brook mint, the water-mint, Mentha hirsuta; brook-tongue, Cicuta virosa; brook weed, the water pimpernel, Samolus valerandi. (Miller Plant-Names.)
| c 1040 Sax. Leechd. I. 220 Genim þysse wyrte wos þe man..*brocminte nemneþ. 1614 Markham Cheap Husb. i. Table Wds., Horse-mint..is called Water-mint or Brook-mint. |
| 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 245 *Brookweed or Water Pimpernel. 1863 M. Plues Wildflowers 237 She got the brookweed too from the banks of the Fowey river. |
▪ II. brook, v.
(brʊk)
Forms: 1 br{uacu}can, 2 bruce(n, 2–3 bruke(n, brukien, 3–6 brouke, 4 brouk, 4–5 browke; also 3–5 broken, 3–6 broke, (4–5 brok), 5–7 brooke, 5– brook; 5–6 Sc. bruk(e(ü), 6 brwk, 6–8 bruik, 7 bruike.
[OE. br{uacu}can (pa. tense bréac, brucon, pple. ᵹebrocen), a Com. Teut. verb, but found in the other langs. with weak conjugation: OFris. brûka, OS. brûcan (MDu. brûken, Du. bruiken), LG. brûken, OHG. brûhhan (MHG. brûchen, Ger. brauchen), Goth. brukjan:—OTeut. stem *bruk- ‘to make use of, have the enjoyment of, enjoy’:—Aryan *bhrug-, whence also L. fru-i (:—frugv-i), fruct-us in same sense. The strong pa. tense and pple. occur in OE., but no certain instance of either is known in ME.; 16th c. Scotch has the weak brooked, brooket, bruikit.
The phonetic history is unusual; the OE. br{uacu}can, ME. bruken, brouke, would normally have given mod. browk; while the mod. brook, and Sc. bruik normally answer to a ME. brōken, found already, as a by-form, in Layamon.]
1. trans. To enjoy the use of, make use of, profit by; to use, enjoy, possess, hold. Obs. except Sc. in some legal phrases, and arch. in literature.
| Beowulf 894 Þæt he beah-hordes brucan moste. a 1000 Wanderer 44 (in Sweet Ags. Reader) Swa he..giefstoles breac. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 111 Þu ane ne brukest naut þinra welena. c 1205 Lay. 30308 Ne scal he nauere..kinehelme broken [c 1275 brouke]. a 1225 St. Marher, 19 Thu schalt aa buten ende bruken blisse. a 1300 Cursor M. 2589 To bruke þair heritage in pais. Ibid. 2427 (Fairf.) Take here þi wife and brok [v.r. brouk, -e] hir wele. c 1440 Bone Flor. 1183 Syr Emere comawndyd every man To brooke wele the tresur that they wan. 1548 Compl. Scot. 86 Ihone kyng of ingland..brukit the realme tuenty ȝeirs. 1603 Jas. I in Calderwood Hist. Kirk 256 I, as long as I brook my life, shall maintain the same. 1637 Rutherford Lett. cxl. (1862) I. 334 Long may He brook it! 1707 Duke of Athol in Vulpone 21 To retain, enjoy or bruik and exerce all their Rights. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xi, No man shall brook life after he has passed an affront on Douglas. Mod. Sc. The langest leiver bruiks a' (= the survivor has possession of everything). |
† b. Formerly in asseverations: so (or as) brouke I my chyn, eyes, heid, etc.: so may I (or as I wish to) have the use of my eyes, etc.
| c 1175 Cott. Hom. 233 Swa ibruce ic mine rice ne scule ȝie mine mete ibite. a 1300 Havelok 311 He shal [ben] king..So brouke I euere mi blake swire! 1384 Chaucer H. Fame 273 For al-so browke I wel myn hede Ther may be vnder godelyhede Keuered many a shrewde vice. c 1386 ― Nun's Pr. T. 480 So mot I brouke wel myn yen tway, Save ye, I herde never man so synge. c 1400 Gamelyn 567 Than seyde the porter, ‘so brouke I my chyn, Ȝe schul sey your erand er ȝe comen in’. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 12 As browke I thise two shankys, It is full sore myne unthankys. 1591 Troub. Raigne K. John (1611) 29 Ill may I thriue, and nothing brooke with me, If shortly I present it not to thee. |
† c. to brook a name (well): to bear it appropriately, do credit to it, act consistently with it. Obs.
| 1587 Harrison England ii. v. (1877) 127 Would to God they might once brooke their name, Sans reproche. a 1600 Robin Hood (Ritson) ii. xvi. 30 ‘Simon,’ said the good wife, ‘I wish thou mayest well brook thy name’. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 11 Henceforth shee should be called the Daintie; which name she brooked as well for her proportion and grace, as for the many happie voyages. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. i. i. §8 And well did he brook his Name. |
† 2. To make use of (food); in later usage, to digest, retain, or bear on the stomach.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John iv. 32 Ic mett hafo to bruccanne ðone ᵹie ne uutton. a 1000 ælfric Gen. iii. 19 On swate ðines andwlitan ðu bricst ðines hlafes. c 1175 Cott. Hom. 221 ælra þara þing þe on paradis beoð þu most bruce. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 53 Brooke mete or drynke..retineo vel digerendo retinere. 1540 T. Raynalde Byrth Man ii. ix. (1634) 142 If she refuse or cannot brooke meat. 1561 Hollybush Hom. Apoth. 32 Geue him a good draught of y⊇ same..as hote as he can brouke it. 1598 W. Phillip Linschoten's Trav. Ind. in Arb. Garner III. 26 So fat that men can hardly brook them. |
† b. absol. Obs.
| 1473 Marg. Paston Lett. III. 79 Water of mynte..were good for my cosyn to drynke for to make hym to browke. |
c. fig. To digest mentally.
| 1548 Hall Chron. (1809) 178 After the letter twise redde & wisely brooked. |
3. To put up with, bear with, endure, tolerate [a fig. sense of ‘to stomach’ in 2]. Now only in negative or preclusive constructions.
| 1530 Palsgr. 471/2 He can nat brooke me of all men. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 30 They cannot at any hand brooke or digest them that would counsel them to that. 1624 Capt. Smith Virginia iv. 115, I would deter such from comming here, that cannot well brooke labour. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 274 Heav'n..Brooks not the works of violence and War. 1752 Young Brothers ii. i, Such insults are not brook'd by royal minds. c 1815 Jane Austen Northang. Abb. (1833) II. xv. 208 The General could ill brook the opposition of his son. c 1854 Stanley Sinai & Pal. v. (1858) 230 That haughty spirit that could brook no equal or superior. |
† b. intr. To put up with. Obs.
| 1658 A. Fox tr. Wurtz' Surg. ii. i. 49 The Wound cannot brook with the Medicine. |
† c. To find it agreeable to do something. Obs.
| 1604 E. Hake No Gold, No G. in Farr S.P. (1848) 256 Few men brooke To helpe a man that is in need. |
† 4. to brook up. [perh. a different word.] Obs.
| 1691 Ray S. & E.C. Wds. 91 To brook up, spoken of Clouds; when they draw together and threaten rain. [Also 1721 in Bailey.] |
¶ Here probably an error for busked.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 25282 Þe bodi has nede of bath to bruked be wid mete and clath. |