Etymograph

English

breech

Breech comes from Proto-Germanic *brōks ‘clothing for loins and thighs’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break, crack, split’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-1‘to break, crack, split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brōks2‘clothing for loins and thighs’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brōkiz2reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150brēċ2
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500breche2
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606breech2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brōks
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English breech
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Their daggers unmannerly breeched with gore.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brōks‘to break, crack, split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brōksWiktionary, English breech‘clothing for loins and thighs’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brōkizWiktionary, English breechreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150brēċWiktionary, English breech
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brecheWiktionary, English breech
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606breechWiktionary, English breech. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Their daggers unmannerly breeched with gore.”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break, crack, split’

break, broken, broke, fraction, fragile, brake, brigade, fragment, fracture, refrain, suffrage, frail, bray, infringe, fret, fractal, refractory, 38 more

through Proto-Germanic *brōks ‘clothing for loins and thighs’

bracket, brogan, brogue, 2 more

through Middle English breche

breach, 1 more

Today it means

noun A garment whose purpose is to cover or clothe the buttocks.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “breech”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *brōks. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- / breech

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