Brache

See also: brache and bräche

German

Etymology

From Middle High German brāche, from Old High German brāhha, from Proto-West Germanic *brāku. Cognate with Luxembourgish Brooch, Dutch braak. Related with brechen (“to break”), so called because the field is ploughed (“broken”) and then left in this state.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbʁaːxə/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

Brache f (genitive Brache, plural Brachen)

1. (agriculture) fallow (unseeded arable land)
2. (agriculture) fallow, fallowness (time or state of being unseeded)
3. (figurative) something that is not sufficiently exploited or taken care of, something that requires work

Declension

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Brache	die	Brachen
genitive	einer	der	Brache	der	Brachen
dative	einer	der	Brache	den	Brachen
accusative	eine	die	Brache	die	Brachen

Declension of Brache [feminine]

Derived terms

• brach (backformation)

References

• van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “braak1”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

Further reading

• “Brache” in Duden online
• “Brache” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache