Etymograph

English

sunbreak

From sun + break.

A compound of sun + break

Proto-West Germanic *sunnā

Old English sunna

Middle English soen

English sun

Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’

…

Proto-Germanic *brekaną ‘to break’

Proto-West Germanic *brekan ‘to break’

Old English brecan ‘to break’

Middle English breken ‘to break up or split’

English break

Today it means

noun A natural phenomenon in which sunlight obscured over a relatively large area penetrates the obscuring material in a localized space, e.g. through a hole in cloud cover.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “sunbreak”. 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 / sunbreak