Broaching

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Introducing a topic or issue for consideration or discussion ; making a hole or opening in something, often by cutting or piercing ; beginning an action, plan, or project, especially one that may be difficult or sensitive
2. Bringing up a matter to be talked about in a conversation or meeting ; creating an entry point or breach in a material or object ; initiating a course of events or undertaking an endeavor
3. Mentioning or presenting a subject so it can be addressed or debated ; piercing or cutting into an object to open it ; commencing an activity or enterprise, often cautiously or with care

Etymology: Before it meant opening a cask or raising a sensitive subject, "broach" referred to a pointed tool. The word came into Middle English as "broche," a spike or spit, borrowed from Old French "broche," which descends from a Vulgar Latin form "brocca," itself a feminine version of the Latin "broccus," meaning something projecting or pointed. That Latin word is perhaps of Gaulish origin, and it has a Scottish Gaelic cousin, "bròg," meaning a spike or point. The sense of piercing a container followed naturally. To broach a cask was to pierce it with a spigot so its liquid could flow, and the figurative sense of opening up a subject for discussion grew from the same image of breaking into something that had been closed. The word is a doublet of "brochure," which entered English through French from the same root and kept the idea of a pinned or stitched pamphlet.

Synonyms: introducing, raising, mentioning, bringing up, suggesting

Antonyms: suppressing, ignoring, withholding