Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
See also: Brit


Wikipedia has an article on:



Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English brytten, brutten, from Old English brittian, bryttian ‎(to divide, dispense, distribute, rule over, possess, enjoy the use of), from Proto-Germanic *brutjaną ‎(to break, divide), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewd- ‎(to break). Cognate with Icelandic brytja ‎(to chop up, break in pieces, slaughter), Swedish bryta ‎(to break, fracture, cut off), Danish bryde ‎(to break) and Albanian brydh ‎(I make crumbly, friable, soft). Related to Old English brytta ‎(dispenser, giver, author, governor, prince), Old English brēotan ‎(to break in pieces, hew down, demolish, destroy, kill).

Alternative forms[edit]


brit ‎(third-person singular simple present brits, present participle britting, simple past and past participle britted)

  1. (transitive) To break in pieces; divide.
  2. (transitive) To bruise; indent.
  3. (intransitive) To fall out or shatter (as overripe hops or grain).
  4. (intransitive, dialectal) To fade away; alter.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

Probably from Middle English bret or birt, applied to a different kind of fish. See bret.

Alternative forms[edit]


brit ‎(plural brit)

  1. One of the young of herrings, sprats etc
  2. One of the tiny crustaceans, of the genus Calanus, that are part of the diet of right whales.
    • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

Etymology 3[edit]

Short for brit milah.

Alternative forms[edit]


brit ‎(plural brits)

  1. brit milah



Gheg word. From Proto-Albanian *breita, from Proto-Indo-European *bhrēi-, *bhrī̆- ‎(to pierce, cut with something sharp). Cognate to Lithuanian bárti ‎(to scold, chide), Old Irish briathar ‎(argument), Old Church Slavonic брати ‎(brati, fight), Welsh brwydr ‎(fight struggle).


brit f

  1. scream, yell
Derived terms[edit]