brackish

Definition

Salty or slightly salty, as a mixture of fresh and sea water, such as that found in estuaries.

Etymology

From Scottish brack (from Middle Dutch brac (“brackish”)) + -ish. Cognate with Dutch brak (“brackish”), German Low German brack, brakerg, brakig (“brackish”), German brackig (“brackish”), Danish brak (“brackish”), Swedish bräck (“brackish”), Norwegian brakk (“brackish”). Perhaps a distant doublet of brook.

Example Sentences

• "...by a low courſe and too long ſporting with the briny Ocean it taſts brackiſh and inſalubrious..."
• "1992, Joyce Carol Oates, Black Water, Penguin Books, paperback edition, page 4. On all sides a powerful brackish marshland odor, the odor of damp, and decay, and black earth, black water."
• "2004, David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas, Random House. The water we took on at Chatham Isle is now brackish & without a dash of brandy in it, my stomach rebels."