breeze
noun
a slight wind (usually refreshing)
- “the breeze was cooled by the lake”
- “as he waited he could feel the air on his neck”
any undertaking that is easy to do
- “marketing this product will be no picnic”
verb
Origin
From the earlier (nautical) term brise, brize (“breeze”), from Middle English brees (“wind”). Ultimate origin obscure. Variously supposed to derive from a Germanic source like Saterland Frisian Briese (“breeze”), West Frisian brys (“a cool wind”), Dutch bries (“breeze”), early Dutch brysen (“to blow cool and fresh”), or from Spanish brisa (“northeast wind”). The earliest attestations are in Middle English brees (1460), Catalan brisa, and Italian brezza (all in 15th century), with Spanish (1504) and Portuguese briza (16th century) following closely after. The aforementioned Dutch cognates and French brise, however, are attested later than the term in English. The only internal hypothesis for any of those languages is a modification of Old Occitan bisa (“strong wind”), which is not widely accepted. Compare also Albanian breshër (“hail”).
Phrases
- bat the breeze
- bay breeze
- breeze off
- breeze past
- breeze through
- breeze up
- coke breeze
- fresh breeze
- gentle breeze
- land breeze
- light breeze
- mackerel breeze
Related words
Broader terms
Narrower terms
See also
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.