Etymograph

English

brewer

Brewer comes from Middle English brewen ‘to brew’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-1‘to brew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brewwaną2‘to brew’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*breuwan3‘to brew’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150brēowan4‘to brew’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brewen5‘to brew’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brewere6
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2006brewer6

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brewwaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *breuwan
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English breowan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Middle English brewen
  5. 5 Wiktionary, Middle English brewere
  6. 6 Wiktionary, English brewer
  7. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Edwin Black: “But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brewwaną‘to brew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brewwanąWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *breuwan‘to brew’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*breuwanWiktionary, Old English breowan‘to brew’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150brēowanWiktionary, Middle English brewen‘to brew’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brewenWiktionary, Middle English brewere‘to brew’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brewereWiktionary, English brewer
  7. Englishearliest quotation 2006brewerWiktionary, English brewer. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2006, Edwin Black: “But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to brew’

brand, burn, purple, bread, bourbon, bourne, broth, brunt, fervent, fervor, brim, ferment, effervescent, porphyry, broil, purpura, bren, briny, 38 more

through Middle English brewen ‘to brew’

brewing, brewster, 1 more

Today it means

noun A person who brews (vocationally or avocationally); especially, one whose occupation is to prepare malt liquors, usually as part of an alemaking or beermaking process.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “brewer”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *brewwaną, Proto-West Germanic *breuwan, Old English breowan, Middle English brewen, Middle English brewere. 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- / brewer

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