▪ I. ‖ brigue, n.
(brig)
Forms: 4–5 brige, bryge, brygge, brigge, 5 (?) bryke, 7– brigue.
[a. F. brigue (14th c. in Littré) = med.L. briga, It. and Pg. briga, Sp. and Pr. brega. Of uncertain origin: see Diez. The word and its derivatives are extensively developed in Italian: see brigand, etc. Adopted in Eng. in the 14–15th c.; then again from modern Fr. about 1700.]
† 1. Strife, quarrel, contention. Obs.
| [c 1380 cf. brike.] c 1386 Chaucer Melib. ¶716 Myne Aduersaries han bigonnen this debaat and bryge [v.r. brige, brigge]. c 1440 Promp. Parv., Bryge or debate, briga, discensio. 1496 Dives & Paup. (W. de W.) iv. xxiv. 192 Yf they passe ther tyme by retchelesnesse or by bryge, the bysshop shall ordeyne. 1678 Littleton Lat. Dict., A brigue or quarrel. Lis, contentio [briga]. |
‖ 2. Intrigue, faction. [from mod.F.; much used in the first half of the 18th c.] Obs. (exc. casually).
| 1701 Jura Pop. Anglicani 29 They must set afoot Factions and Brigues. 1720 Ozell tr. Vertot's Rom. Rep. I. iii. 171 The Cabals and Brigues of the Patricians. 1752 Hume Pol. Disc. xii. 296 Sufficient to prevent brigue and faction. 1753 Dial. betw. Swift & Prior 134 Violent and ill-judg'd Brigues and Feuds. 1867 J. Thomson L'Anc. Régime 13 He in recompense got Fierce struggle with brigue and plot. |
▪ II. † brigue, v. Obs.
(brig)
[f. prec., or a. F. brigue-r to contend, intrigue for = It. brigare to brawl, brabble, strive for. But sense 1 appears to be related to brike: see Briga, brica in Du Cange; It. imbrigare ‘to molest, embroil’; also, to entangle, Florio.]
† 1. trans. To ensnare, trap, beguile. Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 416 Þo fende hafs caste þis snare for to bryge men. 1387 Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. ii. 367 Men were so i-briged [Caxton begyled] þat þey couþe nouȝt come out. |
2. intr. To intrigue; to solicit by underhand methods; to canvass. (Chiefly Sc. in 16–18th c.)
| 1588 A. King Canisius' Catech. 109 Then efteruart nother brigued, or desyred, nother violentlie inuaded y⊇ Bishoprick. 1706 Ld. Beilhaven Sp. in Sc. Parlt. 11, I don't think any one Post of the kingdom worth the briguing after. 1726 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 270 They are already beginning to brigue and cabal. a 1808 Bp. Hurd (L.), I am too proud to brigue for admission. |
† b. trans. To obtain by intrigue. Obs.
| 1758 Sir J. Dalrymple Ess. Hist. Feudal Prop. 170 Kenneth III. brigued a contrary law from his barons. |
Hence briguing vbl. n.
| 1704 Swift T. Tub i, By briguing and caballing. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. ii. v. v. 64 Briguing, intriguing, favouritism..goes on there. |