wædbræc
, weed + breech.
Searchable Lemmata: wædbræc (OE).
Alternate Forms: wædbrec.
Definitions and Defining Citations:
1(n.)
Garment;
girdle for the loins; loincloth; used for covering the genitalia. The term refers to the garments created by Adam and Eve.(ante 1100)
2. & heora begra eagan wurdon geopenode; hi oncneowon ða ðæt hi nacode wæron, & sywodon him ficleaf, & worhton him wædbrec.
[DOE Gen (06400 (3.7))]
Sex: Male Ceremonial: No
Body Parts:
Etymological Evidence:
Definite, compound of weed (see weed 1) 'garment' + breech (q.v.). The sense of the compound seems to require that bræc refers not so much to a garment (for the loins or legs), but to the part of a body covered by such a garment. This sense = OED breech n. sense 4a; OED notes that instances of such a meaning before the early modern period are doubtful, but does provide an Old English example from c. 1000 from a medical text ('Nim gate hær smec under þa brec wiþ þær ræge reosan'). The present word may be added to such examples.
WF: Compound
Etym Cog:
References:
