Brooding
/ˈbruːdɪŋ/noun
Deeply or persistently thinking about something in a gloomy or unhappy way; also, sitting on eggs to hatch them.
Did you know?The word began with literal bird incubation in Old English, and only later evolved into the psychological sense of someone “sitting” on a thought until it turns heavy and obsessive.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhreue-
“to boil, bubble, seethe”
Old English
OE
brōd
“offspring, young of birds; brood”
Old English
OE
brēdan
“to hatch, rear, foster”
Middle English
ME
broden / broden
“to sit on eggs; to incubate”
Modern English
English
brooding
“incubating eggs; thinking gloomily or anxiously”