Etymology
Uncertain; proposed derivations include:
- From Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil, brew, sprout?”), via shortening of *frūto-, and then connected to Old English brēowan (“to brew”).[1]
- From Proto-Indo-European *bʰruto-[1] or *bʰrutós and then connected to Old High German brōz (“bud, scion, offshoot”), Middle High German briezen (“to bud, swell”) and Old Irish broth (“awn, hair”).[2] Compare English breast, Proto-Celtic *brusū (“belly, abdomen, breast”) and Proto-Slavic *břȗxo (“belly”), all ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrews- (“to swell”).
- From a root common to Ancient Greek βρύω (brúō, “to swell”) and (perhaps) Proto-West Germanic *krūd (“plant, herb”).[3]
- From Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewd-. Cognates include Old English brēotan (“to break”), Old Irish broth (“awn”) and maybe Lithuanian brùzgas (“bush, shrub”).
Compare Latin fruticare (“to sprout”).
References
De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “frutex”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN
- “frutex”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “frutex”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- frutex in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
