Origin: bef. 1000; Brit. dial., Scots; late ME bryckell, OE -brycel tending to break, equiv. to bryc- (mutated ptp. s. of brecan to break) + -el adj. suffix
having little elasticity; hence easily cracked or fractured or snapped; "brittle bones"; "glass is brittle"; "'brickle' and 'brickly' are dialectal" [syn: brittle]
[brik-uh
l] 