bre

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bre"

Translingual

Etymology

Clipping of English and French br:brezhoneg.

Symbol

bre

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Breton.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Breton terms

Albanian

Etymology

From Greek βρε (vre), from Greek μωρέ (moré, “stupid”, vocative). Doublet of more.

Interjection

bre

1. A friendly exclamation to a person.

   Folni bre, burra!

   Speak, therefore, men!

2. An exclamation of surprise.

   Bre! Po ç'është kjo?

   Man! What is this?

Related terms

• brez
• pra

Cornish

Etymology

From Middle Cornish bre, from Proto-Brythonic *breɣ, from Proto-Celtic *brigā and Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰos (“hill”). Cognate with Welsh bre.

Noun

bre f (plural breow)

1. hill

   Synonyms: bronn, mena, menydh

Mutation

Mutation of bre

radical	soft	aspirate	hard	mixed
bre	vre	unchanged	pre	fre, vre*

* after 'th
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Cornish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

References

• “bre” in Cornish Dictionary / Gerlyver Kernewek, Akademi Kernewek.

Middle English

Noun

bre

1. alternative form of brewe

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Of uncertain origin.

Noun

bre m (definite singular breen, indefinite plural breer, definite plural breene)

1. a glacier

Synonyms

• isbre

Derived terms

• breerosjon

Etymology 2

From Old Norse breiða.

Verb

bre (imperative bre, present tense brer, passive bres, simple past bredde or bredte, past participle bredd or bredt, present participle breende)

1. (also reflexive) to spread

Alternative forms

• breie (Nynorsk also)

Derived terms

• utbre

References

• “bre” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “bre_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “bre_3” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• brede

Etymology

Of uncertain origin. Compare to Icelandic breði and Icelandic breðafönn

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /breː/

Noun

bre m (definite singular breen, indefinite plural brear, definite plural breane)

1. a glacier

Synonyms

• isbre
• fonn (a smaller one)

Derived terms

• breerosjon

References

• “bre” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بره (bre), from Byzantine Greek βρέ (bré), probably shortened from μωρέ (mōré, “man!”, literally “fool!”) (modern Greek μωρέ (moré)), a frozen vocative of Ancient Greek μωρός (mōrós, “stupid”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bre/
• Rhymes: -e

Interjection

bre

1. hey, dude
2. wow

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From Old Irish brí (“hill”), from Proto-Celtic *brixs, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰŕ̥ǵʰs. Distantly cognate with English borough.

Noun

bre m

1. (obsolete) hill
2. (obsolete) headland

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish بره (bre), from Byzantine Greek μπρέ (mpré), from Ancient Greek μωρέ (mōré). Doublet of mȏre.

Interjection

bre (Cyrillic spelling бре)

1. (Serbia, colloquial) used to insist on or emphasize something being said or commanded, often also stressing the speaker’s perception of its evidentness: bro, man, I say, I’m telling you, can’t you see
2. (Serbia, colloquial) used to insist on an answer to or emphasize a question: on earth, the hell

   Šta si bre to uradio!? ― What the hell did you just do!?

3. (Serbia, colloquial) used to intensify a preceding interjection

Usage notes

When marking a statement or question as insistent, bre is ordinarily found either immediately after the verb or at the end of the sentence. However, if an interjection or vocative is present, it can instead appear next to it, following an interjection and following or preceding a vocative. In wh-questions bre can also follow the interrogative pronoun.

Related terms

• bwe

Descendants

• → German: Bre
• → Pannonian Rusyn: бре (bre)
• → Swedish: bre

References

• Jasmina Milićević (2012) “Šta ustvari znači to bre? ‘What does this bre mean, actually?’ Defining Serbian interjection bre ≈ ‘I’m telling / asking you!’”
• Mirjana Mišković-Luković, Mirjana N. Dedaić, and Vladimir Polomac (2015) “The meaning and interpretation of the Serbian discourse marker BRE” in Journal of Pragmatics, vol. 87, pages 18–30

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /breː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Etymology 1

From breda.

Verb

bre (present brer, preterite bredde, supine brett, imperative bre)

1. (sometimes colloquial) apocopic form of breda (“to spread”)

Conjugation

Conjugation of bre (weak)

	active		passive
infinitive	bre		bres
supine	brett		bretts
imperative	bre		—
imper. plural1	bren		—
	present	past	present	past
indicative	brer	bredde	bres	breddes
ind. plural1	bre	bredde	bres	breddes
subjunctive2	bre	bredde	bres	breddes
present participle		breende
past participle		bredd

¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Serbo-Croatian bre. Compare German Bre.

Interjection

bre

1. (slang) bro (as a term of address)

   Sho bre!

   Sup bro!

2. (slang) Emphasizes a statement or question.

   Det här spelet är fett svårt bre

   This game is super difficult, I'm telling you

Derived terms

• shobresvenska

References

• “bre”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “bre”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• Slangopedia

Anagrams

• ber

Turkish

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish بره (bre), from Byzantine Greek βρέ (bré) (compare modern Greek βρε (vre) and ρε (re), Serbo-Croatian bre, Albanian bre), probably shortened from μωρέ (mōré, “man!”, literally “fool!”) (modern Greek μωρέ (moré)), a frozen vocative of Ancient Greek μωρός (mōrós, “stupid”).

Interjection

bre

1. hey
2. yo (slang)

Synonyms

• ey
• hey

Descendants

• → Armenian: պռե (pṙe)
• → Ladino: bre
• → Romanian: bre

Welsh

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Brythonic *breɣ, from Proto-Celtic *brigā and Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰos (“hill”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /breː/
• Rhymes: -eː

Noun

bre m or f (plural breon or breoedd)

1. hill, brae

   Synonyms: bryn, bryncyn

Adjective

bre (feminine singular bre, plural bre, not comparable)

1. high, elevated

   Synonym: uchel

Adverb

bre

1. upward

   Synonyms: i fyny, lan

Mutation

Mutated forms of bre

radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
bre	fre	mre	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Welsh.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “bre”, in Gweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke, et al., editors (1950–present), “bre”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies