broom

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /brum/ UK /bruːm/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a long-handled brush for sweeping floors; a yellow-flowered shrub

She swept the porch with a worn straw broom.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a long-handled brush for... besombrushsweeperwhisk

Word family

Derived forms broomybroomstick

Appears in

Phrases (1)

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whisk broom
a small brush with a short handle used to remove dust from clothing

Noun + noun

Proverbs (1)

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A new broom sweeps clean

Tongue twisters (1)

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The Bleak Breeze
The bleak breeze blighted the bright broom blossoms.

Alternate /bl/ in bleak, blighted and blossoms with /bɹ/ in breeze, bright and broom. Start with the pairs bleak breeze and bright broom.

Simplified etymology

Broom comes from Old English brōm, the name of the shrub, and is of Germanic origin. In Middle English the name was transferred to a sweeping implement made from broom, heather, or similar twigs.

Etymology

From Old English brōm, the name of the yellow-flowered shrub whose twigs were bundled to make sweeping implements; from Proto-Germanic *brēmaz.

brōm Old English *brēmaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

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# broom

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /brum/
**IPA (UK):** /bruːm/

## Meanings
1. a long-handled brush for sweeping floors; a yellow-flowered shrub

## Examples
- She swept the porch with a worn straw broom.

## Synonyms
- besom
- brush
- sweeper
- whisk

## Derived Forms
- broomy
- broomstick

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: brōm
- Root: *brēmaz

## Etymology
From Old English brōm, the name of the yellow-flowered shrub whose twigs were bundled to make sweeping implements; from Proto-Germanic *brēmaz.

## AI Etymology
Broom is a noun and verb meaning "a long-handled brush for sweeping floors; a yellow-flowered shrub". Historically, it is from Old English brōm, the name of the yellow-flowered shrub whose twigs were bundled to make sweeping implements; from Proto-Germanic *brēmaz. The historical chain links Old English brōm with Proto-Germanic *brēmaz. Close English family members include broomy, and broomstick. This keeps the modern noun and verb sense tied to the older forms and language sequence behind it.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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broom

Meanings

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (1)

Proverbs (1)

Tongue twisters (1)

Simplified etymology

Etymology

Topics

External links

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