brook
/bɹʊk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.74 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A water meadow, or (in the plural) low, marshy ground.
name
A habitational surname from Middle English for someone living by a brook.
name
A surname from Hebrew, a transliteration and normalization of Hebrew ברך (barúkh, “blessed”).
name
A male given name transferred from the surname, variant of Brooks.
Example Sentences
- "brook no refusal"
- "I will not brook any disobedience."
- "I will brook no impertinence."
- "how shall I brook to be the first cause of difference between a father and son, to whom the averted look and the harsh word have been hitherto unknown?"
- "But Sophia's mother was not the woman to brook defiance. After a few moments' vain remonstrance her husband complied. His manner and appearance were suggestive of a satiated sea-lion."
- "After delivering the reply he ordered the annalists, who have charge of the knots, to take note of it and include it in their tradition. By now the Spaniards, who were unable to brook the length of the discourse, had left their places and fallen on the Indians"
Etymology
From Middle English brouken (“to use, enjoy”), from Old English brūcan (“to enjoy, brook, use, possess, partake of, spend”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūkan, from Proto-Germanic *brūkaną (“to enjoy, use”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to enjoy”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian bruke (“to need”), Dutch bruiken (“to use”), German Low German bruken (“to need”), German brauchen (“to need”), Swedish bruka (“to use”), Icelandic brúka (“to use”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *bʰrewHg-, brouken, brūcan, *brūkan, *brūkaną, *bʰruHg-
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɹʊk/
- British English: /bɹʊk/
Usage
- Formal
- Transitive verb
- Obsolete
- American usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in People.