broken (English)
Where does "broken" come from?
The English adjective 'broken' traces its lineage from Middle English 'broken'[1]. This descended from Old English 'brocen'[1], which itself derives from the Proto-Germanic past participle '*brukanaz'[1]. That form originated from the Proto-Germanic verb '*brekaną', meaning 'to break'[1], which traces further back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*bʰreg-', also meaning 'to break'[3]. Morphologically, the modern word also functions through the past participle suffix combination of 'broke' and '-n'[1].
Open questions
- The ultimate ancestral connection to the Proto-Indo-European root '*bʰreg-' is a historical linguistic reconstruction. [3]
- The Proto-Germanic forms '*brukanaz' and '*brekaną' are reconstructed language stages. [1] [3] [4]
Full etymology tree
- broken (English), 'Fragmented; in separate pieces.'
- inherited broken (Middle English)
- inherited brocen (Old English), 'past participle of brecan'
- inherited *brukanaz (Proto-Germanic)
- derived *brekaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to break'
- inherited *bʰreg- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to break'
- derived *brekaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to break'
- inherited *brukanaz (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited brocen (Old English), 'past participle of brecan'
- inherited broken (Middle English)
Ancestors
- brocen (Old English)
- *brekaną (Proto-Germanic)
- broke (English)
Cognates and doublets
- gebroken (Dutch)
- gebrochen (German)
Descendants and derived words
- a broken clock is right twice a day (English)
- breach (English)
- breach (English)
- break (English)
- break (English)
- break (English)
- break (English)
- broke (English)
- broke (English)
- broke (English)
- broke (English)
- broke (English)
Sources
- broken (English) - Wiktionary
- broke (English) - Wiktionary
- brekaną (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- brocen (Old English) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris