Word Origin Atlas

Exact historical dictionary sense

Break in Webster's 1913 dictionary

The 1913 record labels break as noun. Its source-bounded etymology and selected historical definition appear below.

WEBSTER 1913noun
Break

[See Break, v. t., and cf. Brake (the instrument), Breach, Brack a crack.]

Cross-verified historical sense
The source text may be outdated. The page preserves that historical boundary.
Cross-verified 1913 record
Headwordbreak
Part of speechnoun
Historical etymology[See Break, v. t., and cf. Brake (the instrument), Breach, Brack a crack.]
Selected historical definitionAn opening made by fracture or disruption.
Signed record IDwebster1913-break-noun-224a76a2cd01
Source locatorCIDE.B, paragraph 10390; Gutenberg eBook 660
Edition-scoped answerNot earliest-attestation proofNot modern consensus
Independent historical textProject Gutenberg section 660Signed structural record sourceGNU GCIDE 0.54 archive
Quick answer

In Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), "break" is labeled noun. Its etymology is recorded as: "[See Break, v. t., and cf. Brake (the instrument), Breach, Brack a crack.]" The selected historical definition says: "An opening made by fracture or disruption."

Project Gutenberg Webster 1913 plus signed GNU GCIDE 0.54 Exact cross-verified historical record reviewed 2026-09-05

What this answer proves

One named sense in one historical dictionary edition.

The answer reports the selected headword, part of speech, etymology, definition, and source locator as transcribed in the cross-verified 1913 record.

Evidence boundaryIt does not establish the earliest attestation or a complete borrowing chain.It does not claim current scholarly consensus or a modern dictionary definition.Historical dictionary text may be obsolete, incomplete, inaccurate, or offensive by modern standards.

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adverb

Back

[Shortened from aback.]

Webster 1913 exact recordadjective

Better

[OE. betere, bettre, and as adv. bet, AS. betera, adj., and bet, adv.; akin to Icel. betri, adj., betr, adv., Goth. batiza, adj., OHG. bezziro, adj., baz, adv., G. besser, adj. and adv., bass, adv., E. boot, and prob. to Skr. bhadra excellent. See Boot advantage, and cf. Best, Batful.]

Webster 1913 exact recordnoun

Bank

[F. banque, It. banca, orig. bench, table, counter, of German origin, and akin to E. bench; cf. G. bank bench, OHG. banch. See Bench, and cf. Banco, Beach.]

Webster 1913 exact record

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