brink

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge.

   the brink of a river

2. 2
   noun

   The edge or border.

   the brink of success

3. 3
   noun

   the limit beyond which something happens or changes

4. 4
   noun

   the edge of a steep place

5. 5
   noun

   a region marking a boundary

6. 6
   name

   A surname.

Etymology

From Middle English brinke, brenke, from Old Norse *brenka, brekka, from Proto-Germanic *brinkǭ, *brinkaz (“hill, edge (of land)”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰren- (“to project”). Cognate with Dutch brink (“grassland”), regional German Brink, Icelandic brekka (“slope”); also Tocharian B prenke (“island”), Irish braine (“prow”).