brèche

See also: breche

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French breche, bresche, from Old French breche, bresche (“a breach, an opening, crack”), from Frankish *breka (“a breach, break”), from Proto-Germanic *brekō (“a breaking, breach, fallow ground”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- (“to break, crack”).

Cognate with Old High German brecha (“a break”). More at break.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʁɛʃ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛʃ

Noun

brèche f (plural brèches)

1. gap, hole

   Coordinate terms: fissure, fêlure

2. (military) breach

Derived terms

• battre en brèche

Descendants

• → Catalan: bretxa
• → Danish: breche
• → Galician: brecha
• → Italian: breccia (see there for further descendants)
• → Portuguese: brecha
• → Romanian: breșă
• → Russian: брешь (brešʹ)
• → Spanish: brecha

Further reading

• “brèche”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• bécher