Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
brae [brey, bree; Scot. brey, bree] ExamplesWord Origin noun Scot. and North England.
- a slope; declivity; hillside.
Origin of brae 1300–50; Middle English bra Old Norse brā brow, cognate with Old English brēaw eyebrow, eyelid, Old High German brāwa (German Braue); for semantic development, cf. brow Examples from the Web for brae Historical Examples of brae
I was over at his heels, and the pair of us scoured down the brae.
Neil Munro
We have all found the brae long and steep in the spring of life.
J. M. Barrie
It is all that was left behind when her coffin went down the brae.
J. M. Barrie
His lips are moving as I see him turning the corner of the brae.
J. M. Barrie
I know that she still sat at the window looking at the elbow of the brae.
J. M. Barrie
British Dictionary definitions for brae brae noun Scot
- a hill or hillside; slope
- (plural) an upland areathe Gleniffer Braes
Word Origin for brae C14 bra; related to Old Norse brā eyelash, Old High German brāwa eyelid, eyebrow; compare brow Word Origin and History for brae n.
“steep slope,” in northern England especially “the sides of a hill,” early 14c., from Scottish, “slope, river bank,” from Old Norse bra “eyelash,” cognate with Old English bræw “eyelid,” German Braue “eyebrow” (see brow). “The word must have passed through the sense of ‘eye-brow’ to ‘brow of a hill’, supercilium (cf. OE. eaghill ‘eye-hill’=eyebrow)” [OED].