Breached

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /bɹiːt͡ʃt/

Definitions

1. The action of violating a limit, agreement, or law applies in various contexts, such as legal responsibilities or physical barriers being overcome
2. The occurrence of failing to observe a legal obligation or standard, which can pertain to breaches of trust, security, or protocols
3. Having been forcibly opened or broken through a barrier or defense ; failing to fulfill a duty or violate a regulation or agreement

Etymology: "Breached" is the past tense of "breach," and the verb's history runs back to a single idea: something broken open. Its Old English ancestors, "bryċe" and "brǣċ," meant a fracture or a gap, and the related "brǣċ" also carried the sense of breaking or destruction. Both traced further back to Proto-Germanic forms built on the notion of breaking apart, so the word has always described a physical rupture before anything else. Middle English inherited the noun as "breche," and the sense of an opening in a wall or defense came to the fore. Over time the verb grew out of that noun, so to breach something meant to make such an gap in it. The modern meaning of breaking through a barrier, whether a city wall, a sea wall or a security system, keeps that original picture of a fracture intact.

Synonyms: violated, broken, infringed, transgressed, contravened

Antonyms: complied, upheld, observed, maintained, protected