broach: [14] The original meaning of broach was ‘pierce’, and it came from a noun meaning ‘spike’. The word’s ultimate source was the Latin adjective brocchus ‘pointed, projecting’, which in Vulgar Latin came to be used as a noun, *broca ‘spike’. This passed into Old French as broche, meaning ‘long needle’ and also ‘spit for roasting’. English first borrowed the word in the 13th century, as brooch, and then took it over again in the 14th century in the above quoted French meanings.
The nominal senses have now either died out or are restricted to technical contexts, but the verb, from the Vulgar Latin derivative *broccare, remains. From ‘pierce’, its meaning became specifically ‘tap a barrel’, which in the 16th century was applied metaphorically to ‘introduce a subject’. In French, the noun broche has produced a diminutive brochette ‘skewer’, borrowed into English in the 18th century; while a derivative of the verb brocher ‘stitch’ has been brochure, literally ‘a few pages stitched together’, also acquired by English in the 18th century.
A further relative is broccoli [17], plural of Italian broccolo ‘cabbage sprout’, a diminutive of brocco ‘shoot’, from Vulgar Latin *brocca. => broccoli, brochure, brooch
broach (n.)
"pointed instrument," c. 1300, from Old French broche (12c.) "spit for roasting, awl, point end, top," from Vulgar Latin *brocca "pointed tool," noun use of fem. of Latin adjective broccus "projecting, pointed" (used especially of teeth), perhaps of Gaulish origin (compare Gaelic brog "awl").
broach (v.)
"pierce," early 14c., from the same source as broach (n.). Meaning "begin to talk about" is 1570s, a figurative use with suggestions of "broaching" a cask or of spurring into action (compare Old French brochier, 12c., "to spur," also "to penetrate sexually"). Related: Broachedbroaching.
双语例句
1. She was dreading having to broach the subject of money to her father.
她正在为不得不向父亲提出钱的事犯愁。
来自《权威词典》
2. I thought I'd better broach the matter with my boss.
我想我最好还是跟老板说一下这事.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. It's a good chance to broach the subject.
这是开始提出那个问题的好机会.
来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
4. While we're able to broach the subject of sex, money rarely gets an airing.
虽然我们能公开讨论性的话题，但却很少谈及金钱的问题。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Accordingly, Mrs. Hurstwood decided to broach the subject.
