different between overcast vs breeze

English

Etymology

From Middle English overcasten, equivalent to over- +? cast. Compare Swedish överkasta.

Pronunciation

Adjective and noun

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ??v?-käst', IPA^(key): /???v??k??st/
• (General American) enPR: ??v?r-k?st', IPA^(key): /?o?v?.kæst/

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ?'v?-käst?, IPA^(key): /???v??k??st/
• (General American) enPR: ?'v?r-k?st?, IPA^(key): /?o?v??kæst/
• Rhymes: -??st

Noun

overcast (plural overcasts)

1. (obsolete) An outcast.
2. A cloud covering all of the sky from horizon to horizon; cloudy.

Adjective

overcast (comparative more overcast, superlative most overcast)

1. Covered with clouds; overshadowed; darkened; (meteorology) more than 90% covered by clouds.
2. (figuratively) In a state of depression; gloomy; melancholy.

Translations

Verb

overcast (third-person singular simple present overcasts, present participle overcasting, simple past and past participle overcast)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To overthrow.
2. (transitive) To cover with cloud; to overshadow; to darken.
3. (transitive) To make gloomy; to depress.
4. (intransitive, obsolete) To be or become cloudy.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To transform.
6. (transitive, bookbinding) To fasten (sheets) by overcast stitching or by folding one edge over another.

Translations

References

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

Anagrams

• overacts

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?i?z/
• Rhymes: -i?z

Etymology 1

From the earlier (nautical) term brise, brize (“breeze”), from Middle English brees (“wind”). Ultimate origin obscure.

Variously supposed to derive from a Germanic source like Saterland Frisian Briese (“breeze”), West Frisian brys (“a cool wind”), Dutch bries (“breeze”), early Dutch brysen (“to blow cool and fresh”), or from Spanish brisa (“northeast wind”).

The earliest attestations are in Middle English brees (1460), Catalan brisa, and Italian brezza (all in 15th century), with Spanish (1504) and Portuguese briza (16th century) following closely after. The aforementioned Dutch cognates and French brise, however, are attested later than the term in English. The only internal hypothesis for any of those languages is a corruption of Old Occitan bisa (“strong wind”), which is not widely accepted.

Compare also Albanian breshër (“hail”).

Alternative forms

• brize (obsolete)
• briess (obsolete)

Noun

breeze (plural breezes)

1. A light, gentle wind.
   • 1793, William Wordsworth, An Evening Walk

     Into a gradual calm the breezes sink.

   • Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.

2. (figuratively) Any activity that is easy, not testing or difficult.

3. (cricket) Wind blowing across a cricket match, whatever its strength.
4. Ashes and residue of coal or charcoal, usually from a furnace. See Wikipedia article on Clinker.
5. An excited or ruffled state of feeling; a flurry of excitement; a disturbance; a quarrel.

6. A brief workout for a racehorse.

Synonyms

• see also Thesaurus:wind
• cakewalk, cinch, doddle, piece of cake, walk in the park, walkover; see also Thesaurus:easy thing

Coordinate terms

• (gentle wind): gale, hurricane, storm

Derived terms

• breezen

Translations

See also

• breeze block
• Wikipedia article on the Beaufort scale

Verb

breeze (third-person singular simple present breezes, present participle breezing, simple past and past participle breezed) (intransitive)

1. (usually with along) To move casually, in a carefree manner.
2. (weather) To blow gently.
3. To take a horse on a light run in order to understand the running characteristics of the horse and to observe it while under motion.

Translations

References

Etymology 2

From Middle English brese, from Old English br?osa, variant of Old English brimsa (“gadfly”), from Proto-Germanic *bremus? (“gadfly”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?erem- (“to make a noise, buzz, hum”). Cognate with Dutch brems (“horsefly, warblefly”), German Bremse (“gadfly, horsefly”), Danish bremse (“gadfly, horsefly”), Swedish broms (“gadfly, horsefly”). Related also to Middle English brimse (“gadfly”), French brize (“gadfly”), Old English bremman (“to rage, roar”), Latin frem? (“roar, snort, growl, grumble”). See also bream.

Alternative forms

• breese
• brize

Noun

breeze (plural breezes)

1. A gadfly; a horsefly; a strong-bodied dipterous insect of the family Tabanidae.

Verb

breeze (third-person singular simple present breezes, present participle breezing, simple past and past participle breezed)

1. (intransitive) To buzz.

Anagrams

• beezer