brook

Meaning

Verb

1. To bear; endure; support; put up with; tolerate.
2. To enjoy the use of; make use of; profit by; to use, enjoy, possess, or hold.
3. (obsolete) To earn; deserve.

Noun

1. A body of running water smaller than a river; a small stream.
2. A water meadow.
3. Low, marshy ground.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɹʊk/

Etymology

From Middle English brouken (“to use, enjoy”), from Old English brūcan (“to enjoy, brook, use, possess, partake of, spend”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūkan, from Proto-Germanic *brūkaną (“to enjoy, use”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰruHg- (“to enjoy”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian bruke (“to need”), Dutch bruiken (“to use”), German Low German bruken (“to need”), German brauchen (“to need”), Swedish bruka (“to use”), Icelandic brúka (“to use”).