Shipbreach

Alternative forms

• ship-breach

Origin

From Middle English schipbreche, schipbrüche, from Old English scipbryċe, scipbroc, scipġebroc ("shipwreck; that which washes ashore from shipwreck, wreckage", literally ship-breaking), equivalent to ship + breach. Cognate with Scots schipbrek ("shipwreck"), Dutch schipbreuk ("shipwreck"), German Schiffbruch ("shipwreck").

Full definition of shipbreach

Noun

1. Shipwreck.
• 1966, Bartholomaeus (Anglicus), Robert Steele, Medieval Lore:Also in shipbreach men flee to a board, and are oft saved in peril.
• 1999, Robert M. Torrance, Robert M. Torrance:... and the third with an harp, and they please so shipmen, with likeness of song, that they draw them to peril and to shipbreach shipwreck, but the sooth truth is, that they were strong whores, that drew men that passed by them to poverty and to mischief.