brach

brachet (ˈbrætʃɪt)

/ (brætʃ) /

noun

archaic a bitch hound

Nearby words

bracelet, bracelets, bracer, bracero, braces, brach, brachah, brachi-, brachia, brachial, brachial artery

Word Origin for brach

C14: back formation from brachez hunting dogs, from Old French, plural of brachet, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German braccho hound

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Examples from the Web for brach

In the usual manner the printer was led away by the 'brach' in the following line.
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare's Plays|Thomas Keightley
As he elsewhere, it might appear, calls him brach, Hanmer's reading harlot would seem to have been the poet's word.
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare's Plays|Thomas Keightley
The brach was loosed, the bear sprang hence; Kriemhild's husband would fain overtake him.
The Nibelungenlied|Unknown
The Dupuy brach is slender and has a narrow muzzle, as if it had some harrier blood in its veins.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 803, May 23, 1891|Various

The above derivation of brach is, however, not quite satisfactory.
The Shakespeare-Expositor: An Aid to the Perfect Understanding of Shakespeare's Plays|Thomas Keightley

Word Origin and History for brach

brach

"bitch hound" (archaic), mid-14c., brache, originally "hound that hunts by scent," from Old French braches "hound, hunting dog," brachez, plural of brachet, of West Germanic origin (cf. Middle Dutch brache, Old High German braccho "hound, setter"), from PIE *bhrag- "to smell" (cf. Middle High German bræhen "to smell," Latin fragrare "to smell sweetly"). Italian bracco is a Germanic loan word.