brit

brit

See also: Brit, Brit., Brit-, and břit

English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɹɪt/
  • Rhymes: -ɪt

Etymology 1

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-Germanic *breutaną (to destroy, crush, break), 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 outside the Germanic family with Albanian brydh (to 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

Verb

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

Etymology 2

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

Alternative forms

Noun

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.

Etymology 3

    Borrowed from Hebrew בְּרִית.

    Alternative forms

    Noun

    brit (plural brits)

    1. brit milah
    2. A covenant, specifically that between God and the Jewish people.
      • 2000, David Golinkin, “The Whys and Hows of Conservative Halakhah”, in Responsa in a Moment, volume 3, page 14:
        The second theocentric approach to observance stresses the partnership of God and man. The Torah and the mitzvot express the eternal brit or covenant made between God and the Jewish people.
      • 2005, Joel Lurie Grishaver, Jewish Values Alef to Tav, page 13:
        There is a special brit between God and the Families-of-Israel. The Torah is the story of that brit
      • 2020, Aaron Chaim HaLevi Zimmerman, Torah & Rationalism, page 120:
        When the Jews were expelled from Eretz Yisrael into galus, and were punished for their sins with the destruction of the first and second Temples, the bris between G-d and Yisrael is not ended.

    Anagrams

    Albanian

    Etymology

    Gheg word. From Proto-Albanian *breita, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreyH- (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).

    Noun

    brit f

    1. scream, yell

    Derived terms

    Hungarian

    Alternative forms

    • britt (archaic, nonstandard)

    Etymology

    From German Brite, from Latin Brītō̆nēs.[1]

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): [ˈbrit]
    • Rhymes: -it

    Adjective

    brit (not comparable)

    1. British

    Declension

    Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
    singular plural
    nominative brit britek
    accusative britet briteket
    dative britnek briteknek
    instrumental brittel britekkel
    causal-final britért britekért
    translative britté britekké
    terminative britig britekig
    essive-formal britként britekként
    essive-modal
    inessive britben britekben
    superessive briten briteken
    adessive britnél briteknél
    illative britbe britekbe
    sublative britre britekre
    allative brithez britekhez
    elative britből britekből
    delative britről britekről
    ablative brittől britektől
    non-attributive
    possessive – singular
    brité briteké
    non-attributive
    possessive – plural
    britéi britekéi

    Derived terms

    Compound words and expressions
    • brit angol
    • Brit antarktiszi terület
    • brit birodalom
    • Brit Columbia
    • Brit India
    • Brit Indiai-óceáni Terület
    • Brit Kelet-indiai Társaság
    • Brit Nemzetközösség
    • Brit Nyugat-India
    • brit rövidszőrű
    • brit tengerentúli területek
    • Brit Virgin-szigetek
    • Brit-sziget and Brit-szigetek

    Noun

    brit (plural britek)

    1. Briton, Brit

    Declension

    Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)
    singular plural
    nominative brit britek
    accusative britet briteket
    dative britnek briteknek
    instrumental brittel britekkel
    causal-final britért britekért
    translative britté britekké
    terminative britig britekig
    essive-formal britként britekként
    essive-modal
    inessive britben britekben
    superessive briten briteken
    adessive britnél briteknél
    illative britbe britekbe
    sublative britre britekre
    allative brithez britekhez
    elative britből britekből
    delative britről britekről
    ablative brittől britektől
    non-attributive
    possessive – singular
    brité briteké
    non-attributive
    possessive – plural
    britéi britekéi
    Possessive forms of brit
    possessor single possession multiple possessions
    1st person sing. britem britjeim
    2nd person sing. brited britjeid
    3rd person sing. britje britjei
    1st person plural britünk britjeink
    2nd person plural britetek britjeitek
    3rd person plural britjük britjeik

    See also

    References

    1. ^ brit in Károly Gerstner, editor, Új magyar etimológiai szótár [New Etymological Dictionary of Hungarian] (ÚESz.), Online edition (beta version), Budapest: MTA Research Institute for Linguistics / Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics, 2011–2025.

    Further reading

    • brit in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
    • brit in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2026).