Forms: 1 bróc, 2–3 broc, 3–4 brok, 4 bruche, 4–6 broke, 5–7 brooke, 5–6 bruke, 4– brook. [OE. bróc masc., corresponding in form to MDu. broek m., mod.Du. broek n., LG. brôk marsh, bog, OHG. bruoh, MHG. bruoch n. and m., marshy ground, morass, Ger. bruch m. and n., moor, marsh, bog, fen. A similar range of meaning appears in MHG. ouwe water, stream, watery land, island; and cf. BACHE. The ulterior derivation of the WGer. *brôka- is uncertain; it has been doubtfully referred to brek-an to BREAK, as ‘that which breaks or bursts forth’; cf. spring, ‘that which springs forth.’]

1

  1.  A small stream, rivulet; orig. a torrent, a strong flowing stream.

2

c. 888.  K. Ælfred, Boeth., vi. Hwæt eac se broc, þeah he swiþe of his rihtryne.

3

c. 1050.  Gloss., in Wr.-Wülcker, 178. Fluuius, singalflowende ea; riuus, rið; latex, burna; torrens, broc; riuulus, lytel rið.

4

c. 1205.  Lay., 10827. Þat … wurpen hine in ænne broc.

5

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., A. 1073. Vpon þe brokez brym.

6

c. 1450.  Merlin, xi. 167. In the brooke were wylde gees that hem dide bathe.

7

c. 1450.  Henryson, Mor. Fab., 86. I drinke beneth you far, Ergo, for mee your bruke was neuer the war.

8

1535.  Coverdale, Ps. xli[i]. 1. Like as the hert desyreth the water brokes.

9

1538.  Starkey, England, 16. Yssue … as Brokys out of fountaynys.

10

1593.  Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., III. i. 53. Smooth runnes the Water, where the Brooke is deepe. Ibid. (1600), A. Y. L., II. i. 16. This our life … Findes tongues in trees, bookes in the running brookes, Sermons in stones.

11

1597.  Montgomerie, Cherrie & Slae, 24. Among the water broxe.

12

1796.  Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 450. These rivers are fed by numberless brooks from every part of the country.

13

1864.  Tennyson (title), The Brook.

14

  b.  transf. A stream, a ‘torrent’ (e.g., of blood).

15

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 258. Þet ilke dei þet he bledde … brokes of ful brode & deope wunden.

16

c. 1240.  Ureisun, in Lamb. Hom., 187. Þi blod isched on þe rode … þe large broc of þi softe side.

17

  † 2.  The stream or ‘flood’ of the sea. Obs. rare.

18

c. 1325.  E. E. Allit. P., C. 145. When þe breth & þe brok & þe bote metten.

19

  3.  Attrib. and Comb., as brook-bank, -side; brook-bounded adj.; Brook ouzel or Brook runner, the Water-rail (Rallus aquaticus).

20

1861.  L. L. Noble, Icebergs, 161. Along the *brook-banks under the Catskills.

21

1839.  Bailey, Festus, xx. (1848), 238. *Brook-bounded pine spinnies.

22

1678.  Ray, Willughby’s Ornith., 314. The Water-Rail, called by some the Bilcock or *Brook-Owzel.

23

1837.  Hawthorne, Amer. Note-Bks. (1871), I. 42. Strawberries were scattered along the *brookside.

24

  b.  in plant-names, as Brook Betony, Scrophularia aquatica; † Brook leek, Arum dracunculus; Brook mint, the Water-mint, Mentha hirsuta; Brook-tongue, Cicuta virosa; Brook weed, the Water Pimpernel, Samolus Valerandi. (Miller, Plant-Names.)

25

c. 1040.  Sax. Leechd., I. 220. Genim þysse wyrte wos þe man … *brocminte nemneþ.

26

1614.  Markham, Cheap Husb., I. Table Wds., Horse-mint … is called Water-mint or Brook-mint.

27

1861.  Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., IV. 245. *Brookweed or Water Pimpernel.

28

1863.  Marg. Plues, Wild Flowers (1864), 237. She got the Brookweed, too…, from the banks of the Fowey River.

29