adj. (pp.)
'unbroken'
(Modern English )Formed within English, either on the ME pp. brosten (see brestes (v.)) or derived directly from the ON form of the pp. represented by OIcel brostinn (so McGee 388).
PGmc Ancestor
*brestan-
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
bresta ‘to crack, crash; snap, break, be split open; give way, break loose (etc.)’.
(ONP bresta (1) (vb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Far bresta, Icel bresta, Norw bresta, Dan briste, Sw brista
OE Cognate
berstan 'to break, burst, fail, fall'
Phonological and morphological markers
[
absence of metathesis
] (possibly diagnostic)Summary category
C2ac
The prefixed form only occurs in Cl in ME; OED and EDD also connect a 19c. record of a Whitby dial word unbrussen.
Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus
Cl 365