Revised as of 14 April 2021
I don’t think the author meant for the woman character to be wearing a brazier. Nope, she wasn’t being set on fire, but she was putting that mint green brazier on under a shirt. I gotta confess I got warm just thinking of that brazier so close to her skin.
I do remember that the character was heading off to work, and I wonder if she planned on stopping off at a brasserie for a quick breakfast. Maybe she’d find a brassiere at a shop along the way. It’d be lots more comfortable than a charcoal-lined, metal brazier.
Word Confusions…
…started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.
If you found this post on “Brasserie vs Brassiere vs Brazier” interesting, consider tweeting it to your friends. Subscribe to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Brasserie | Brassiere | Brazier |
|---|---|---|
| Credit to: Apple Dictionary.com; Dictionary.com: brasserie; Cambridge Dictionary: brazier | ||
Brasserie Les Ducs, Moulins, FR03, by jean-louis zimmermann is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via VisualHunt. |
1950s Vintage Bullet Bra by Emma Benitez is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr. — A glossy champagne rayon satin, concentric-stitched, back-fastening vintage brassiere. |
.jpg)
Fire Brazier by Thomas’s Pics is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Noun Plural: brasseries |
Noun Plural: brassieres |
Noun 1, 2 Plural: braziers Alternative spelling: brasier |
| An informal, unpretentious restaurant, tavern, or the like — especially one in France or modeled on a French one — with a large selection of drinks, especially beer, and simple or hearty food | An undergarment worn by women to support the breasts
Shortened to bra |
A portable heater consisting of a pan or stand for holding lighted coals to heat a room 1
[North American] A simple cooking device consisting of a container of live coals covered by a grill or thin metal top upon which the food, usually meat, is placed A person engaged in brass-working or brass-founding 2 |
| Examples: | ||
| Jean and I enjoy an aperitif at Brasserie du Val in the afternoons after work.
Have you been to the brasserie down the street yet? Try the brasserie’s draught beer with the Welsh rabbit. You won’t regret it. Michael ate everyday at the brasserie. A new brasserie opened up in town. There was a wonderful old brasserie in Paris that served the most delicious meals and reasonable yet good wines. |
Mabel reached inside her brassiere and pulled out the key to her apartment.
You should wash your brassieres after every three to four wearings. Women used to throw their brassieres and panties at Tom Jones. Marks & Spencer sold their first brassiere in 1926. In 1910, Mary Phelps Jacob invented the first modern brassiere. It was in the 1930s that the brassiere started to come in cup sizes. |
Lady Helen was pleased to see that her maid had lit the brazier early enough to take the chill off the room.
Back in the day, coaches might provide a small brazier to warm the interior. He welcomed us very cordially and invited us to sit down before the fire burning in the copper brazier. More than this the flickering brazier would not permit me to see. The brilliant light, a lamp burning on the bench, a brazier full of coals flaring in the forge, increased her confusion still more. |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Noun: braziery | ||
| History of the Word: | ||
| Mid-19th century, from the French, originally meaning brewery, from brasser meaning to brew. | The first known use was in 1880.
From the French brassière, literally meaning bodice, child’s vest, from the Old French braciere meaning arm protector, which is from bras meaning arm, which is from the Latin brācchium + -iere, -ier. |
|
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan…which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them…and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Beach Café in Boulimat, Bejaia, Algeria, by SofiLayla; Bikini Beach by Adam Kontor; and, Brazier by HaiRobe are all in the public domain, via Pixabay.
