English
bren
Bren comes from Old Norse brenna, from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną ‘to set on fire’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil, brew’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-1‘to boil, brew’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brinnaną2‘to set on fire’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350brenna2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brennen2‘to burn’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590bren2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brinnaną, which cites Kroonen
- 2 Wiktionary, English bren
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto III: “And the greene grasse that groweth they shall bren,…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brinnaną, which cites Kroonen‘to boil, brew’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brinnanąWiktionary, English bren‘to set on fire’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350brennaWiktionary, English bren
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brennenWiktionary, English bren‘to burn’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590brenWiktionary, English bren. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto III: “And the greene grasse that groweth they shall bren,…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil, brew’
purple, bread, bourbon, bourne, fervor, broth, brewer, brew, fervent, brim, ferment, porphyry, effervescent, purpura, broil, brandish, 38 more
through Proto-Germanic *brinnaną ‘to set on fire’
Today it means
verb To burn (to set ablaze).
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “bren”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *brinnaną. 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 *bʰrewh₁- / bren