Old English · verb

brucan

Normalised brūcan

Part of speech: verb
Verb class: strong class II
IPA: /ˈbruː.kɑn/
Syllables: ˈbruː · kɑn (2 syllables)
Modern English: harness exploit employ brook enjoy

Meaning

to use
to enjoy

Uton nū brūcan þisses undernmetes swā þā sċulon þe heora ǣfenġifl on helle ġefeċċan sċulon.

Now let's enjoy this breakfast as comrades who must fetch their dinner in hell.
late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans
to harness, take advantage of, employ, exploit

Conjugation

Conjugation of brucan
Indicative
	Present	Past
1st singular	brūce	brēac
2nd singular	brȳcst	bruce
3rd singular	brȳcþ	brēac
Plural	brūcaþ	brucon
Subjunctive
Singular	brūce	bruce
Plural	brūcen	brucen

Non-finite forms of brucan
	Form
Infinitive	brūcan
Inflected infinitive	brūcenne
Imperative singular	brūc
Imperative plural	brūcaþ
Present participle	brūcende
Past participle	brocen ġebrocen

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *brūkan (“to enjoy, use”). Cognates Cognate with Old Frisian brūka, Old Saxon brūkan, Old Dutch *brūkan, Old High German brūhhan, Gothic (brukjan). The Indo-European root was also the source of Latin fruor (“enjoy”).

Descendants

brook

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/brucan · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution