brackish

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English

Etymology

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

Adjective

brackish (comparative more brackish, superlative most brackish)

  1. (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.
  2. Distasteful; unpleasant; not appealing to the taste. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
  3. Repulsive (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

Translations