breast

breast
\ \ [OE] Breast can be traced back via prehistoric Germanic *breustam to an Indo- European base *bhrus- or *bhreus-, whose other descendants, including Old Saxon brustianbud’, Middle High German briusternswell’, and Irish brúabdomen, womb’, suggest that the underlying reference contained in the word may be to the growth and swelling of the female breasts. By the time it reached Old English, as brēost, it had already developed a more general, non-sex-specific sense ‘chest’, but the meaning element ‘mammary gland’ has remained throughout, and indeed over the past two hundred years ‘chest’ has grown steadily more archaic.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Breast — (br[e^]st), n. [OE. brest, breost, As. bre[ o]st; akin to Icel. brj[=o]st, Sw. br[ o]st, Dan. bryst, Goth. brusts, OS. briost, D. borst, G. brust.] 1. The fore part of the body, between the neck and the belly; the chest; as, the breast of a man… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • breast — [brest] n. [ME brest < OE breost < IE base * bhreus , to swell, sprout] 1. either of two milk secreting glands protruding from the upper, front part of a woman s body 2. a corresponding gland in a female primate 3. a corresponding… …   English World dictionary

  • breast — breast; breast·ed; breast·er; breast·height; breast·hook; breast·less; breast·rail; breast·rope; breast·sum·mer; breast·weed; …   English syllables

  • breast — [ brest ] noun ** 1. ) count one of the two round soft parts on the front of a woman s body that produce milk when she has a baby: She had small round breasts. breast cancer 2. ) count FORMAL a person s CHEST a ) count LITERARY your chest and… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Breast — Breast, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Breasted}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Breasting}.] To meet, with the breast; to struggle with or oppose manfully; as, to breast the storm or waves. [1913 Webster] The court breasted the popular current by sustaining the… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • breast — (n.) O.E. breost breast, bosom; mind, thought, disposition, from P.Gmc. *breustam breast (Cf. O.S. briost, O.Fris. briast, O.N. brjost, Du. borst, Ger. brust, Goth. brusts), perhaps lit. swelling and from PIE root *bhreus to swell, sprout (Cf …   Etymology dictionary

  • breast — [n1] front of upper body bosom, bust, chest, front, mammary glands, mammilla, nipple, teat, udder; concept 418 breast [n2] feelings, conscience being, bosom, character, core, emotions, essential nature, heart, mind, psyche, seat of affections,… …   New thesaurus

  • breast — index confront (encounter), defy, resist (oppose), withstand Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • breast — ► NOUN 1) either of the two soft, protruding organs on a woman s chest which secrete milk after pregnancy. 2) a person s or animal s chest region. ► VERB 1) face and move forwards against or through. 2) reach the top of (a hill). DERIVATIVES… …   English terms dictionary

  • Breast — The milk engorged breast of a pregnant woman …   Wikipedia

  • breast — [[t]bre̱st[/t]] ♦♦♦ breasts 1) N COUNT: oft poss N A woman s breasts are the two soft, round parts on her chest that can produce milk to feed a baby. She wears a low cut dress which reveals her breasts... As my newborn cuddled at my breast, her… …   English dictionary

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