Brattishes

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

  1. Ornamental crestings found along the top edges of structures such as screens or cornices ; decorative elements used in architecture, especially in the form of openwork patterns or designs
  2. Architectural adornments serving as decorative borders for features like screens or rooflines ; intricately designed parapets or crestings often used for embellishment in historical buildings
  3. Embellished crestwork typically applied to the uppermost parts of architectural features like screens or cornices ; ornamental openwork used to enhance the visual richness of a structure

Etymology: The term "brattishes" appears to be a rare or dialectal form related to the verb "brattice," which itself derives from the noun "brattice." Historically, a "brattice" referred to a wooden partition or screen, especially one used in mining to direct airflow. The word entered English through Middle English, borrowed from Old French "brattice" or "bratice," which denoted a wooden lattice or fence. The verb form likely developed from the noun, meaning to enclose or divide with a brattice. Over time, the action of installing such partitions or creating divisions in a space or structure could have been verbalized as "to brattice" or "to brattish," with "brattishes" as a third-person singular or plural form. The suffix "-ish" added to nouns to form verbs was a productive process in Middle English, often indicating to make or become like the noun. As a noun, "brattishes" might be a plural or variant form referring to multiple partitions or screens. The term, however, is quite obscure and seldom used in modern English, surviving mostly in specialized historical or mining contexts. It illustrates how functional objects in medieval industry generated vocabulary that could flexibly shift between noun and verb forms. Its root in Old French suggests a borrowing during the Norman influence on English vocabulary, with the word maintaining a concrete, physical sense tied to barriers or divisions. The slight morphological variation seen in "brattishes" reflects English’s tendency to adapt loanwords to native inflectional patterns, sometimes resulting in less common variants that do not survive widespread usage.