brit

Meaning

Verb

1. (transitive) To break in pieces; divide.
2. (transitive) To bruise; indent.
3. (intransitive) To fall out or shatter (as overripe hops or grain).
4. (dialectal, intransitive) To fade away; alter.

Noun

1. One of the young of herrings, sprats, etc.
2. One of the tiny crustaceans, of the genus Calanus, that are part of the diet of right whales.

Noun

brit milah

Synonyms

britt

fry

herring

sprat

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɹɪt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: brytten

Inherited from Old English: brittian

Cognate with Icelandic: brytja

Cognate with Swedish: bryta

Cognate with Danish: bryde

Cognate with Albanian: brydh

Inherited from Middle English: bret

In summary

From Middle English brytten, brutten, from Old English brittian, bryttian (“to divide, dispense, distribute, rule over, possess, enjoy the use of”), from Proto-Germanic *brutjaną (“to break, divide”), from Proto-Germanic *breutaną (“to destroy, crush, break”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewd- (“to break”). Cognate with Icelandic brytja (“to chop up, break in pieces, slaughter”), Swedish bryta (“to break, fracture, cut off”), Danish bryde (“to break”), and outside the Germanic family with Albanian brydh (“I make crumbly, friable, soft”). Related to Old English brytta (“dispenser, giver, author, governor, prince”), Old English brēotan (“to break in pieces, hew down, demolish, destroy, kill”).