Is it pronounced brooch or broach?
As a noun, broach refers to a tapered cutting tool or a hole made by such a tool. The noun brooch refers to an ornamental pin that’s usually worn at the neck. The two words are pronounced alike: brōch (rhymes with coach).
Why is brooch pronounced broach?
broach/ brooch
These words sound exactly the same! They rhyme with “coach.” Both come from a word root meaning “something pointy,” but the spelling brooch branched off as a word for the piece of jewelry. To remember the difference, broach has an a like “approach,” and brooch has two o’s like eyes on an owl brooch.
What does brooch mean in English?
: an ornament that is held by a pin or clasp and is worn at or near the neck.
Where does the word brooch come from?
Both broach and brooch come from the Old French ‘broche’. In the early thirteenth century, ‘broche’ meant ‘long needle’ and, by the fourteenth century, it came to mean ‘pointed instrument’. The spelling of the word changed to brooch as the word began being used specifically to refer to an ornamental pin.