brossa

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈbɾɔ.sə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈbɾɔ.sa]

Etymology 1

Uncertain

• Possibly of pre-Roman (Celtic) origin; compare Proto-Celtic *wroikos (“heather”).
• Possibly of Romance origin, from Old French broisse, from Vulgar Latin *bruscia (“shoots of a plant”), from Latin bruscum (“knot on a maple tree”).
• Or a Germanic language (Gothic *𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌺𐌾𐌰 (*brukja), presumably related to Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“fissure, breach”)).

Also compare Spanish brocha (“paintbrush”).

Noun

brossa f (plural brosses)

1. leaf litter
2. brush, brushwood, scrub

   Synonyms: malesa, brolla

3. speck
4. litter, rubbish, trash

   Synonym: escombraries

   correu brossa ― junk mail

5. (computing, colloquial) bug

   Synonym: error

Derived terms

• brossam
• brossar
• brossella
• brossós

 

Further reading

• “brossa” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “brossa” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “brossa”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French brosse.

Noun

brossa f (plural brosses)

1. bristle brush

Etymology 3

Verb

brossa

1. inflection of brossar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

French

Verb

brossa

1. third-person singular past historic of brosser