brak

brak (comparative more brak, superlative most brak)

1. (South Africa) Brackish.
   • 1995, Bill Sheat, Gerald Schofield, Complete Gardening in Southern Africa, page 437:

     Brak soils, which continue to be a subject of research, are unlikely to provide a major stumbling block […] However, brak conditions and their effects underline many of the principles of good soil management […]

brak (plural braks)

1. (South Africa) A dog of mixed breed; a mongrel.

• bark, kbar, krab

Russian брак (brak), from German Brack (“defective goods, defect, flaw”).

brak

1. defect

• Mirjejev, V. A., Usejinov, S. M. (2002) Ukrajinsʹko-krymsʹkotatarsʹkyj slovnyk [Ukrainian – Crimean Tatar Dictionary]‎^[1], Simferopol: Dolya, →ISBN
• “brak”, in Luğatçıq (in Russian)

Inherited from Old Czech brak, from Middle Low German brak. Compare Polish brak.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbrak]
• Hyphenation: brak

brak m inan

1. trash, leftovers, refuse (what is designated as bad; what is is leftover after what is good is taken)

• “brak”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “brak”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “brak”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

From German brach. Related to brække.

brak (uninflectable)

1. fallow

From either Low German brack or Dutch brak.

brak (neuter brakt, plural and definite singular attributive brakke)

1. brackish, brack water

• brakvand

• “brak” in Den Danske Ordbog

• IPA^(key): /brɑk/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: brak
• Rhymes: -ɑk

From Middle Dutch brac. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

brak (comparative brakker, superlative brakst)

1. brackish
2. (colloquial) bad
3. (colloquial) hungover

Declension of brak
uninflected	brak
inflected	brakke
comparative	brakker
		positive	comparative	superlative
predicative/adverbial		brak	brakker	het brakst het brakste
indefinite	m./f. sing.	brakke	brakkere	brakste
	n. sing.	brak	brakker	brakste
	plural	brakke	brakkere	brakste
definite		brakke	brakkere	brakste
partitive		braks	brakkers	—

• brakheid
• uitbrakken

• → Papiamentu: brak
• → Sranan Tongo: brak

From Middle Dutch bracke. Compare German Bracke, French braque, English brach, Italian bracco, Spanish braco. This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

brak m or f (plural brakken, diminutive brakje n)

1. hound, brach (of either sex)

   Synonym: jachthond

• ⇒ Afrikaans: brakkie

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

brak

1. singular past indicative of breken

• bark, krab

brak

1. romanization of 𐌱𐍂𐌰𐌺

From Old Norse brak.

• IPA^(key): /praːk/

  Rhymes: -aːk

brak n (genitive singular braks, no plural)

1. crash, din (sound of something breaking)
2. wreckage, broken wood, etc.

• brak og brestir (“a colossal din”)

• “brak” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈbrak/ [ˈbrak̚]
• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: brak

brak (plural brak-brak)

1. (Jepara) workshop

Borrowed from Polish brak.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrak/
• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: brak

brak m inan

1. lack (non-existence of something)

   Synonym: niedostatk

• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “brak”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[2], volume 1, page 117
• “brak”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

Borrowed from Middle Low German brak.^[1] Compare Old Polish brak.

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈbrak/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈbrak/

brak m inan

1. choice (what is taken n. selected from a group of individuals of the same kind)
2. trash, leftovers, refuse (what is designated as bad; what is is leftover after what is good is taken)

• Czech: brak

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “brak”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Borrowed from Middle Low German brak. First attested in 1452. Compare Old Czech brak.

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /brak/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /brak/

brak m animacy unattested

1. choice, selection
   • 1912-1930 [1452], Monumenta Iuris cura praepositorum Chartophylacio Maximo Varsoviensi, volume III, page 223:

     Hannus ... tenetur prouido Laurencio... sexagenarium al. sachczyg drzewa, hoc debet sibi presentare in Gdansko in prima aqua in prato sub eleccione al. pod brakem

     [Hannus ... tenetur prouido Laurencio... sexagenarium al. zachcyg drzewa, hoc debet sibi presentare in Gdansko in prima aqua in prato sub eleccione al. pod brakiem]

• Polish: brak
• Silesian: brak

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “brak”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Sławski, Franciszek (1958-1965) “brak”, in Jan Safarewicz, Andrzej Siudut, editors, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), Kraków: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
• Mańczak, Witold (2017) “brak”, in Polski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “brak”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “brak”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

• brák (Lubawa, Ostróda)

Inherited from Old Polish brak.

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: brak

brak m inan

1. lack (non-existence of something) [with w (+ locative) ‘in what’]
2. defect (fault or malfunction)

   Synonyms: defekt, feler, minus, niedostatek, wada

3. faulty product (defective item that is the result of creation)
4. (obsolete) choice; selection

   Synonym: wybór

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), brak (noun) is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 28 times in scientific texts, 19 times in news, 63 times in essays, 15 times in fiction, and 12 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 137 times, making it the 437th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.^[1]

brak impf (defective)

1. (impersonal) there is/are no; to be wanting [with genitive ‘what there is not’ and dative ‘for/on whom’]

   Synonym: brakować

   Na parkingu brak wolnych miejsc. ― There is no vacant space in the parking lot.

2. (Far Masovian) synonym of potrzeba

   Brak mi jesce dwuch złotych do butów. ― I need to more złotys for the boots.

• → Kashubian: brak

• brak in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• brak in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “brak”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “brak”, in Słownik języka polskiego
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “brak”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “brak”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 199
• brak in Narodowy Fotokorpus Języka Polskiego
• Wojciech Grzegorzewicz (1894) “brak”, in “O języku ludowym w powiecie przasnyskim”, in Sprawozdania Komisji Językowej Akademii Umiejętności (in Polish), volume 5, Krakow: Akademia Umiejętności, page 103

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *borkъ.

• IPA^(key): /brâːk/

brȃk m inan (Cyrillic spelling бра̑к)

1. marriage

• brȃčnī

Inherited from Old Polish brak.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrak/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: brak

brak m inan

1. lack (non-existence of something)

   Synonym: niydostatek

2. (Cieszyn) type, kind

   Synonyms: gatōnek, kategoryjŏ, typ, wariant, wariacyjŏ, zorta

• brak in silling.org

brak n

1. a loud crashing sound like the sound of a large tree falling or a structure collapsing

   Trädet föll med ett brak

   The tree came down with a crash

   Ett brak hördes från vardagsrummet

   A loud crash was heard from the living room

• brak- (see there for more derived terms)
• brakare (“loud fart”)
• brakfis (“loud fart”)
• brakskit (“loud fart”)

• braka

• brak in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• brak in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• brak in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Borrowed from Russian брак (brak), from Polish brak, from Middle Low German brak (“flaw, defect; breaking”).

brak (plural braklar)

1. reject, defective product