▪ I. bramble1
(ˈbræmb(ə)l)
Forms: 1 brémel, brǽmel, brǽmbel, 1–4 brembel, 2 brimbel, 3 brimbyl, 4 brembil, -bul, brimbil, 5 bremmyll, brymbyl(l, brymmeylle, 5–6 brymble, 5–9 bremble (in 9 dial.), 6 brambel, brombille, brymmil, 6– bramble.
[OE. brembel, bræmbel, later form (with euphonic b, and consequent shortening of vowel) of brémel, brǽmel, masc.:—OTeut. type bræ̂milo-z, dim. of the word, of which the simplest forms are OE. bróm broom:—WGer. *brâm:—OTeut. *bræ̂mo-z, and WGer. *brâma ‘thorny shrub’ (OHG. brâma, MDu. brame, Du. braam, MLG. braam):—OTeut. bræ̂mâ- str. fem. Cf. mod.G. brombeere brambleberry, blackberry. See also broom.]
1. A rough prickly shrub; spec. the blackberry-bush (Rubus fruticosus).
| c 1000 ælfric Gen. iii. 18 Ðornas and bremelas heo asprit ðe. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. I. 192 Genim þas wyrte þe man erusti, & oðrum naman bremel [v.r. bræmbel] nemneð. Ibid. II. 290 Wiþ utwærce brembel þe sien beᵹen endas on eorþan. c 1175 Cott. Hom. 223 Se eorðe..sylðe þornes and brembles. a 1300 Cursor M. 924 Brembel [v.r. brimbyl] and thorn it sal te yeild. 1382 Wyclif Job xxxi. 40 For whete be sprunge to me a brimbil. 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 95 Tho cam we in a felde ful of brome and brembles. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ix. 110 My wrechit fuid wes berreis of the brymmil. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. U iv b, The bramble bindeth, drieth and dieth heyre. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 678 Their defenceless Limbs the Brambles tear. 1751 Johnson Rambl. No. 161 ¶1 Tully sought amidst bushes and brambles the tomb of Archimedes. 1861 Delamer Fl. Gard. 111 There is a double white-flowered variety of the common Bramble. |
| fig. 1644 Milton Educ. (1738) 136 That asinine feast of sow-thistles & brambles which is commonly set before them. 1779 Johnson L.P., Dryden (1816) 351 The roses had not yet been plucked from the bramble. |
2. Comb. and
attrib., as
bramble-brake,
bramble-brier,
bramble-bud,
bramble-bush,
bramble-leaf,
bramble-thread,
bramble-wood; also
bramble-bond, a bramble-shoot used to bind straw in thatching, etc.;
bramble-brand, a parasitic fungus (
Aregma rubi) which appears on the bramble;
bramble-cure, a superstitious practice formerly employed in country districts for the cure of disease (
cf. bramble-loop);
bramble-flower, the flower or blossom of a bramble; also the Dog-rose (
Rosa canina);
bramble-loop, the loop formed by a bramble-shoot bent round so as to root iself into the ground again;
bramble-rose, the white trailing dog-rose. Also bramble-berry.
| 1854 J. Hogg Microsc. ii. i. (1867) 294 *Bramble Brand, hypogenous with a dull red stain on the upper surface. |
| c 1000 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker Voc. 269 Tribulus, *bræmbelbrær. |
| 1579 Langham Gard. Health (1633) 87 Bramble breer, or Blackberry. |
| 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. June 7 The *Bramble bush, where Byrds..their tunes attemper. |
| 1846 Sowerby Brit. Bot. (1864) III. 163 An incautious approach to a *Bramble-bush. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot. II. 996/1 In Cornwall the *bramble-cure is only employed for boils. |
| 1591 Spenser Virgil's Gnat xi, This with sharpe teeth the *bramble leaves doth lop. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot. II. 996/1 We have heard of cows that were..dragged through the *bramble-loop. |
| 1713 C'tess of Winchilsea Misc. Poems 291 The Woodbind and the *Bramble-Rose. |
▪ II. ˈbramble2 Shortened form of
brambling.
| 1674 Ray Eng. Birds 83 The Bramble or Brambling. |
Hence (or from
bramble1)
bramble-finch = brambling; also
bramble-net, ‘a net for catching birds, a hallier’ (Phillips 1706).
| 1865 Derby Merc. 25 Jan., Mr. Scrimshaw also sent three grey parrots, a macaw..and bramblefinches. 1881 Standard 2 Mar. 5 The Act..omits the bramblefinch. |