▪ I. † brogue, n.1 Obs. exc. Sc.
(broːg)
Also 6 brogge, 8 brougue.
[Deriv. unknown. Cf. brogger.]
An escheat; a cheat, fraud, trick.
| 1537 St. Papers Hen. VIII, I. 548 Ne any brogges or meanes that any of those borderers canne make, shall cause Us to altre that which We have established. 1634 Jackson Creed vii. xxvii, The sacred treasury (unto which such brogues or escheats as this were by ordinary course due). 1784 Burns Addr. Deil xvi, Ye [Satan] came to Paradise incog, An' play'd on man a cursed brogue. 1791 Ep. J. Priestley in Poet. Register (1808) 401 Then..[they] strive Who first a bargain with their Queen shall drive. While no mean lure her beckoning hand displays, The well-known royal brougues of better days. |
▪ II. brogue, n.2
(brəʊg)
Also 6 brog, 7 brouge, 7–8 broge.
[a. Irish and Gael. brōg ‘shoe, brogue, sandal’ (O'Reilly):—OIr. brōce shoe, app.:—OCelt. brācca: see breech.
(The phonetic series brācca, brōce, brōg, is normal. But the sense-history is difficult: the word has in Ir. and Gael., and had even in OIr., only sense 1. Sense 2 looks as if Englishmen had confounded the Ir. bróg with the mogan, a kind of legging, covering the whole leg as well as the upper surface of the foot. Yet the etymological identity of brōcc with Gaulish brācca, would point to a covering for the legs (‘barbara tegmina crurum’) originally. The sense of the first quot. is doubtful.)]
1. a. A rude kind of shoe, generally made of untanned hide, worn by the inhabitants of the wilder parts of Ireland and the Scotch Highlands.
| 1586 J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinsh. II. 160/1 He was no sooner come home, but awaie with his English attires, and on with his brogs, his shirt, and other Irish rags. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 123 They buckle upon their feet a pair of Broges made of raw and untanned leather up to their ankles. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. iv. ii. 214, I thought, he slept, and put My clowted Brogues from off my feet. 1775 Johnson Journ. West. Isl. (1806) IX. 191 In Sky I first observed the use of brogues, a kind of artless Shoes. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 142 Some had been so used to wear brogues that they stumbled and shuffled about strangely in their military jack boots. 1865 Maffei Brigand Life I. 258 Rough, heavy brogues which hurt our feet. |
b. In full brogue shoe. A strong shoe for country and sports wear, having characteristic bands of ornamental perforations.
| 1906 Hasluck Boot & Shoe Pattern Cutting 57 Brogue Shoes.—The gentleman's brogue is always a strong shoe for shooting, golf, fishing, etc. The wing of the vamp and cap are longer..than for a lady's brogue. 1917 Mod. Boot & Shoe Maker III. 234 Highland Brogue Shoe... The general design is similar to a very heavy golfing brogue. 1925 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 35/1 An enormous pair of unlaced black brogue shoes. |
† 2. pl. Hose, trousers. Obs.
| 1615 G. Sandys Trav. i. 48 The skirts of their [Turkish horsemen's] coates, when they ride, are gathered within long stammel broges that reach to their ancles. 1625 Fletcher Fair Maid iv. ii. 45 A pair of brogs to hide thy mountainous buttocks. 1674 tr. Scheffer's Lapland xvii. 87 The men in summer have trouses, or brougs, reaching down to their feet. 1742 Shenstone Schoolmistr. xix, Brandishing the rod, she doth begin To loose the brogues. 1809 Irving Knickerb. (Bartlett), Every man being ordered to tuck in his shirt-tail and pull up his brogues. a 1845 Hood Irish Schoolm. xv, The scourge plies that unkindly seam In Phelim's brogues. |
3. fishing brogues, waterproof coverings for the feet and legs; waterproof leggings with feet.
| 1880 Advt., Indiarubber goods, etc. Fishing brogue boots, leather soles. |
4. Comb., as brogue-maker, brogue-shod; also brogueful, as much as a brogue will hold; brogue heel, a low heel like that of a brogue shoe; brogue vamp, a stout vamp made like that of a brogue shoe.
| 1832 J. Wilson in Blackw. Mag. XXXI. 273 Having no..idea of..a foot but a *brogueful of muscle. |
| 1927 Chambers's Jrnl. XVII. 286/2 She'd only *brogue heels on her feet; and her..shoulders were just about on a level with his. |
| 1795 Statist. Acc. Scotl. XIV. 74 A number of tailors, and a few *brogmakers. |
| 1812 W. Tennant Anster Fair ii. xxxvii, The *brogue-shod men..Plaided and breechless all. |
| 1889 T. Brophy Pattern-Cutting made Easy iv. 86 We have had boots with all sorts of..variations of design... We have had Derby and *brogue vamps fitted to elastic patterns. |
▪ III. brogue, n.3
(brəʊg)
[Deriv. unknown: from the frequent mention of ‘Irish brogue’, it has been conjectured that this may be the same word as the prec., as if ‘the speech of those who wear brogues’, or ‘who call their shoes brogues’; but of this there is no evidence.]
A strongly-marked dialectal pronunciation or accent; now particularly used of the peculiarities that generally mark the English speech of Ireland, which is treated spec. as the brogue.
| 1705 Lond. Gaz. No. 4123/4 Charles Morgan..having much of the Irish Brogue in his Speech. 1727 De Foe Eng. Tradesm. I. ix. 66 Keep the sportman's brogue upon their tongues. 1775 T. Sheridan Art Reading 146 They brought with them each their several brogues or modes of intonation. 1828 Scott Review Ritson's Hist. (1849) 345 The Doctor..has done much for the Lowland Scottish brogue. 1843 Lever J. Hinton x. (1878) 65 From the lips of a lovely woman, a little, a very little of the brogue is most seductive. 1878 Black Green Past. iii. 23 The very stones of Westminster Hall are saturated with Irish brogue. |
▪ IV. brogue, v.
(brəʊg)
[f. brogue n.3]
trans. To utter with a brogue. Hence broguing ppl. a.
| 1822 Byron Vis. Judgm. lix, There Paddy brogued ‘By Jasus’! 1831 Fraser's Mag. III. 613 ‘How wonderful,’ brogues forth a gentleman of the press, ‘that, etc.’ |