brackish
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Scottish brack (from Middle Dutch brac (“brackish”)) + -ish. Cognate with Dutch brak (“brackish”), German Low German brack, brakerg, brakig (“brackish”), German brackig (“brackish”), Danish brak (“brackish”), Swedish bräck (“brackish”), Norwegian brakk (“brackish”). Perhaps a distant doublet of brook.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
brackish (comparative more brackish, superlative most brackish)
- (of water) Salty or slightly salty, as a mixture of fresh and sea water, such as that found in estuaries.
- 1638, Sir Thomas Herbert, Some years travels into divers parts of Asia and Afrique:
- ...by a low courſe and too long ſporting with the briny Ocean it taſts brackiſh and inſalubrious...
- 1992, Joyce Carol Oates, Black Water, Penguin Books, paperback edition, page 4.
- On all sides a powerful brackish marshland odor, the odor of damp, and decay, and black earth, black water.
- 2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, Random House.
- The water we took on at Chatham Isle is now brackish & without a dash of brandy in it, my stomach rebels.
- Distasteful; unpleasant; not appealing to the taste. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- Repulsive (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
slightly salty
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distasteful; unpleasant; not appealing to the taste
repulsive — see repulsive