Brush
/brʌʃ/noun
A tool with bristles, or the act of sweeping/rubbing lightly against something.
Did you know?The word is linked to Old French forms for a shrub or brushwood, so the everyday tool name grew out of the language of tangled vegetation rather than any magical ritual.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bhreus-
“to break off, snap, or crumble”
Late Latin
Latin
bruscia
“brushwood; thicket”
Old French
OF
brosse
“brushwood; a brush”
Middle English
ME
brush
“a brushwood bundle; later, an implement for sweeping or cleaning”
Modern English
English
brush
“a tool with bristles, or the act of lightly touching or sweeping against something”