Brest
/brɛst/noun
An obsolete or dialectal English spelling of “breast,” referring to the front of the chest or the female breast.
Did you know?The word’s ancient Indo-European family also produced “brew,” “broth,” “breed,” and “brood,” linking the body’s swelling form with ideas of growth, bubbling, and generation.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhreus-
“To swell, sprout, or spring up; the reconstructed root behind the word family.”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*breustą
“Breast or chest.”
Old English
Old English
brēost
“Breast, chest, or the front of the body.”
Middle English
Middle English
brest
“Breast or chest; a common variant spelling of the developing English word.”
14th–16th Century
English
brest
“An established spelling variant, gradually displaced in standard usage by “breast.””
Modern English
English
brest
“An obsolete or dialectal form, also preserved in historical texts and place names.”