brotel

Middle English

Alternative forms

• brotil, brutil, brotyl, brutel, brutyll, bruttle, brotle

Etymology

From Old English *brotul.

Adjective

brotel

1. Fragile, brittle, easily broken.
2. Easily hurt or destroyed, feeble.
3. Changeable, mutable; precarious, uncertain.
   • late 14th century, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Merchant's Tale, The Canterbury Tales, line 1279-1280:

     [...] On brotel ground they builde, and brotelnesse
     They finde, whan they wene sikernesse.

     [...] On brittle ground they build, and insecurity
     They find when they expect security.

4. Morally weak, fickle, vacillating, untrustworthy.

Related terms

• britel

Descendants

• English: brottle, bruttle, brattle (dialectal)

References

• “brotel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.