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Brawl
Definitions
- 1 A disorderly argument or fight, usually with a large number of people involved.
"Three Ciuell brawles bred of an airie word, / By the old Capulet and Mountague, / Haue thrice diſturbd the quiet of our ſtreets."
- 2 A type of dance move or step. obsolete
- 3 a noisy fight in a crowd wordnet
- 4 Alternative form of branle (“dance of French origin dating from the 16th century, performed by couples in a circle or a line; the music for this dance”). alt-of, alternative, historical
"Boy. Maiſter, will you win your loue with a french braule? / Brag[gart]. How meaneſt thou? brawling in French. / Boy. No my complet Maiſter, but to Iigge off a tune at the tongues ende, canarie to it with your feete, humour it with turning vp your eylids, ſigh a note and ſing a note ſomtime through the throate, if you ſwallowed loue with ſinging loue [...]"
- 5 an uproarious party wordnet
- 1 To engage in a brawl; to fight or quarrel. intransitive
"I doe the wrong, and firſt began to braule / The ſecret miſchiefes that I ſet abroach, / I lay vnto the grieuous charge of others: [...]"
- 2 To move to and fro, to quiver, to shake. intransitive, obsolete
- 3 to quarrel noisily, angrily or disruptively wordnet
- 4 To create a disturbance; to complain loudly. intransitive
"Say beggar, why brawlest þou? go boune þe to þe barre."
- 5 Especially of a rapid stream running over stones: to make a loud, confused noise. intransitive
"To day my Lord of Amiens, and my ſelfe, / Did ſteale behinde him as he lay along / Vnder an oake, whoſe anticke roote peepes out / Vpon the brooke that brawles along this wood, [...]"
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- 6 To pour abuse on; to scold. transitive
Etymology
The verb is derived from Late Middle English braulen, brall, brallen (“to clamour, to shout; to quarrel; to boast”); further etymology is uncertain, but the word could be related to bray and ultimately imitative. It may be cognate with Danish bralle (“to chatter, jabber”), Dutch brallen (“to boast”), Low German brallen (“to brag”), Middle High German prālen (“to boast, flaunt”) (modern German prahlen (“to boast, flaunt, vaunt”)). The noun is derived from Middle English brall, bralle, braul, braule, brawle (“disturbance, squabble; brawl”), from the verb braulen: see above.
The verb is derived from Late Middle English braulen, brall, brallen (“to clamour, to shout; to quarrel; to boast”); further etymology is uncertain, but the word could be related to bray and ultimately imitative. It may be cognate with Danish bralle (“to chatter, jabber”), Dutch brallen (“to boast”), Low German brallen (“to brag”), Middle High German prālen (“to boast, flaunt”) (modern German prahlen (“to boast, flaunt, vaunt”)). The noun is derived from Middle English brall, bralle, braul, braule, brawle (“disturbance, squabble; brawl”), from the verb braulen: see above.
Possibly from French branler (“to shake”), from Old French brandeler (“to shake, wave; to agitate”), from brand, branc (“blade of a sword”), from Vulgar Latin *brandus (“firebrand; flaming sword; sword”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenu- (“to burn”).
From French branle (“type of dance; an act of shaking, a shake”), from branler (“to shake”), from Old French brandeler (“to shake, wave; to agitate”); see further at etymology 2. Alternatively, the word could be derived from brawl (“(obsolete) to move to and fro, quiver, shake”): see etymology 2.
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