adj.
Gaw *braþ
'angry, fierce, grim'
(Modern English )cp. OIcel bráðr ‘immediate, sudden, harsh, fierce, rash’ < PGmc *brēða- or *brēþa-. While there are no cognate adjectival forms beyond ON, the word has very plausibly been connected to the v. represented by OE brǣdan, OHG brātan, etc., ‘to roast, fry’, but there are probably related stems without Verner's Law voicing as well (cp. OE brǣð ‘breath’, OHG brādam ‘heat’ next to OE brōd, OHG bruot ‘heat, brood, breeding’). The vocalism is therefore a good test of loan, but the medial fricative is not reliable evidence of ON origin.
PGmc Ancestor
*brēða- or *brēþa-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
bráðr ‘immediate, sudden, harsh, fierce, rash'
(ONP bráðr (adj.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far bráður, Icel bráður, Norw bråd, Dan brad, Sw bråd
OE Cognate
cp. brǣdan (v.) ‘to roast, fry’, brǣð (n.) ‘breath, odour, exhalation (etc.)’
Phonological and morphological markers
ON /ɑ:/ < PGmc */e:/ (1)
[ON fricative /ð/ < PGmc */ð/] (may not be applicable)
Summary category
A1c
Recorded in ME from Orrm and confined almost entirely to texts from N and E.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Gaw 1909, 2233; Cl 149, 1409
Gaw 1909 *braþ is emended from ms bray by most editors.