Etymograph

English

brinded

Brinded comes from Middle English brend ‘burnt, branded’, from brennen ‘to burn’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil, brew’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-1‘to boil, brew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brinnaną2‘to burn’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brannijaną3‘to cause to burn, to set on fire’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*brannijan3‘to cause to burn, set on fire’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bærnan4‘to burn’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brennen4‘to burn’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bren4‘burned, branded’past participle of brennen
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brend4‘burnt, branded’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606brinded4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brinnaną, which cites Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brannijaną
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Old English bærnan
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English brinded
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Thrice the brinded Cat hath mew'd.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brinnaną, which cites Kroonen‘to boil, brew’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brinnanąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brannijaną‘to burn’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brannijanąWiktionary, Old English bærnan‘to cause to burn, to set on fire’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*brannijanWiktionary, Old English bærnan‘to cause to burn, set on fire’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bærnanWiktionary, English brinded‘to burn’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brennenWiktionary, English brinded‘to burn’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brenWiktionary, English brinded‘burned, branded’past participle of brennen
  8. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500brendWiktionary, English brinded‘burnt, branded’
  9. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606brindedWiktionary, English brinded. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Thrice the brinded Cat hath mew'd.”

The story

Also compare Old Norse brǫndóttr, Icelandic bröndóttr (‘brindled’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

purple, bread, bourbon, brew, bourne, broth, fervor, fervent, ferment, brim, effervescent, porphyry, broil, purpura, brandish, 38 more

through Proto-Germanic *brinnaną ‘to burn’

burn, brand, brunt, briny, 2 more

through Middle English brennen ‘to burn’

bren

Today it means

adj Especially of the fur or skin of animals: having a patchy or streaky pattern, usually brown or grey in colour; brindled.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “brinded”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *brinnaną, Proto-Germanic *brannijaną, Old English bærnan. 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- / brinded

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