brossa
Catalan
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Uncertain
- Possibly of pre-Roman (Celtic) origin; compare Proto-Celtic *wroikos (“heather”).
- Possibly of Romance origin, from Old French broisse, from Vulgar Latin *bruscia (“shoots of a plant”), from Latin bruscum (“knot on a maple tree”).[1]
- Or a Germanic language (Gothic *𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌺𐌾𐌰 (*brukja), presumably related to Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“fissure, breach”)).[2]
Also compare Spanish brocha (“paintbrush”).
Noun
brossa f (plural brosses)
- leaf litter
- brush, brushwood, scrub
- speck
- litter, rubbish, trash
- Synonym: escombraries
- correu brossa ― junk mail
- (computing, colloquial) bug
- Synonym: error
Derived terms
References
- ^ Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN
- ^ “broza”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
Further reading
- “brossa”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
- “brossa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
- “brossa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
Etymology 2
Noun
brossa f (plural brosses)
Etymology 3
Verb
brossa
- inflection of brossar:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
French
Verb
brossa
- third-person singular past historic of brosser