brink

Where does the word "brink" come from? It comes from Old Norse brekka, and was adopted directly into English (1300s).

Brink’s story begins in Old Norse: brekka meant “a steep edge, a slope.” A steep slope, a hillside edge. It reached English by 1300s as brink. Settled as the English word for the edge of a steep place. Today, brink means the edge of a steep place, or the point just before something begins or ends.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval brekka "a steep edge, a slope", a steep slope, a hillside edge.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1300s brink "the edge of a steep place, or the point just before something happens", settled as the English word for the edge of a steep place.