Etymograph

English

brog

Brog comes from Scottish Gaelic bròg ‘shoe, boot’, from Old Norse brók ‘breeches’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break, crack, split’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-1‘to break, crack, split’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brōks2‘crotch’uncertain
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350brók3‘breeches’uncertain
  4. Old Irishc. 600–900bróc3‘shoe, sandal’
  5. Scottish Gaelicmodernbròg4‘shoe, boot’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1818brog4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brōks
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old Norse brók
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Scottish Gaelic bròg
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English brog
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1818, Jedediah Cleishbotham pseudonym; Walter , Tales of My Landlord: “D'ye think I was born to sit here brogging…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰreg-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brōks‘to break, crack, split’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brōksWiktionary, Old Norse brók‘crotch’uncertain
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350brókWiktionary, Scottish Gaelic bròg‘breeches’uncertain
  4. Old Irishc. 600–900brócWiktionary, Scottish Gaelic bròg‘shoe, sandal’
  5. Scottish GaelicmodernbrògWiktionary, English brog‘shoe, boot’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1818brogWiktionary, English brog. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1818, Jedediah Cleishbotham pseudonym; Walter , Tales of My Landlord: “D'ye think I was born to sit here brogging…”

Linked words

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

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

through Proto-Germanic *brōks ‘crotch’

bracket, breech, 3 more

Today it means

noun A pointed instrument, such as a joiner's awl.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “brog”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *brōks, Old Norse brók, Scottish Gaelic bròg. 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- / brog

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