different between brink vs confine

English

Etymology

Middle English brinke, from Old Norse *brenka, brinka, from Proto-Germanic *brinkaz (“hill, edge (of land)”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?ren- (“project”). Cognate with Dutch brink (“grassland”), dialectal German Brunkel, Icelandic brekka (“slope”); also Tocharian B prenke (“island”), Irish braine (“prow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b???k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

brink (plural brinks)

1. The edge, margin, or border of a steep place, as of a precipice; a bank or edge.

   the brink of a river

2. (figuratively) The edge or border

   the brink of success

   He's on the brink of madness.

Derived terms

• brinkmanship
• on the brink

Translations

Further reading

• brink in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• brink in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch brinc, from Old Dutch brink, from Proto-Germanic *brinkaz.

Cognate with English brink.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /br??k/
• Hyphenation: brink
• Rhymes: -??k

Noun

brink m (plural brinken, diminutive brinkje n)

1. village green, functioning as a central square
2. edge or margin of a field
3. edge or margin of a hill
4. grassy edge or margin of a strip of land
5. grassland

Derived terms

• brinkdorp

Middle English

Noun

brink

1. Alternative form of brinke

English

Etymology

From Middle French confiner, from confins, from Medieval Latin confines, from Latin confinium, from Latin conf?nis.

Pronunciation

• (verb) enPR: k?nf?n?, IPA^(key): /k?n?fa?n/
• (noun)
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?nfa?n/
  • (US) enPR: kän?f?n, IPA^(key): /?k?nfa?n/
• Rhymes: -a?n

Verb

confine (third-person singular simple present confines, present participle confining, simple past and past participle confined)

1. (obsolete) To have a common boundary with; to border on. [16th–19th c.]
   • 1791, James Boswell, Life of Johnson, Oxford 2008, p. 467:

     ‘Why, Sir, to be sure, such parts of Sclavonia as confine with Germany, will borrow German words; and such parts as confine with Tartary will borrow Tartar words.’

2. (transitive) To restrict (someone or something) to a particular scope or area; to keep in or within certain bounds. [from 17th c.]
   • 1680, John Dryden, Ovid’s Epistles translated by several hands, London: Jacob Tonson, Preface,^[1]

     He is to confine himself to the compass of numbers and the slavery of rhyme.

Translations

Noun

confine (plural confines)

1. (chiefly in the plural) A boundary or limit.

Synonyms

• (limit): border, bound, limit

Derived terms

• confineless

Translations

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.fin/
• Homophones: confinent, confines

Verb

confine

1. first-person singular present indicative of confiner
2. third-person singular present indicative of confiner
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of confiner
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of confiner
5. second-person singular imperative of confiner

Italian

Etymology

From Latin conf?nis.

Noun

confine m (plural confini)

1. border, frontier
2. boundary

Synonyms

• limite

Related terms

• confinante
• confinare
• confinario
• confino

Latin

Adjective

c?nf?ne

1. nominative neuter singular of c?nf?nis
2. accusative neuter singular of c?nf?nis
3. vocative neuter singular of c?nf?nis

Portuguese

Verb

confine

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of confinar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of confinar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of confinar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of confinar

Spanish

Verb

confine

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of confinar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of confinar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of confinar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of confinar.