Etymology: < Anglo-Norman brige and Middle French, French brigue quarrel, dispute, intrigue (1314) < Italian briga difficult problem, annoyance, controversy, quarrel (13th cent.), of uncertain origin, perhaps < a continental Celtic word cognate with Early Irish bríg power, itself of uncertain and disputed origin. Compare post-classical Latin briga quarrel, brawl (from 13th cent. in British (frequently) and continental sources) and Portuguese briga (15th cent.). With sense 2 compare brike n.In Italian, the noun briga was common, and developed a number of derivatives at an early date, e.g. brigare (see brigue v.), brigante (see brigand n.), and brigata (see brigade n.). Development within English. In sense 2 apparently conflated with brike n., with the association perhaps facilitated by the occasional variants with /k/ of the word for ‘quarrel’, e.g. Anglo-Norman bryke (1307), French brique (1495), and post-classical Latin brica (14th cent.). Similar variation can perhaps also be seen in the later Scots form brique (with reference to intrigue: see sense 3), unless this merely reflects a typographical error. Compare also enbryke , variant of embryge v., and the French forms cited at that entry.

Etymology: In sense 1 probably shortened < embryge v. In later use either < brigue n., or < Middle French briguer to quarrel, brawl (a1442), to solicit (1542; French briguer ) < brigue brigue n.Compare (apparently < the respective nouns) post-classical Latin brigare to dispute, quarrel, brawl (from 14th cent. in British and continental sources), Italian brigare to engage in intrigue (a1306).