Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/bruwo-

This Proto-Celtic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Celtic

Etymology

Unknown; any etymology provided for either of the Welsh or Irish forms inevitably features an uncomfortable semantic distance and also make connecting the Welsh and Irish forms together phonologically impossible.

Noun

*bruwo- gender unattested

1. mass, multitude

Reconstruction notes

• The gender of this word cannot be reconstructed. The Irish word was reshaped to entirely take after *brāwū (“quern”), obscuring the original base formation, and also the Welsh word is a derived adjective.

Derived terms

• *bruwyos? *bruwis?
  • Proto-Brythonic: *brüw
    • Middle Welsh: bryu
      • Welsh: bryw (“strong, mighty”)

Descendants

• Old Irish: bróu
  • Middle Irish: bró (“multitude”)