An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/brennen

by Friedrich Kluge

brennen, verb, ‘to burn, scorch, sting, distill’; it combines the meanings of Middle High German brinnen, strong verb, ‘to burn, give light, shine, glow,’ and its factitive brennen, weak verb ‘to set fire to, cause to burn’; the former is Gothic, Old High German and Old Low German brinnan, ‘to burn’ (intransitive), the latter Gothic brannjan, ‘to set fire to.’ Compare Anglo-Saxon birnan (intransitive), bœrnan, bernan (transitive). English to burn, is transitive and intransitive, like the Modern High German word. Under Brand attention is called to the fact that only one n of the Gothic verb. brinnan belongs to the root; the second n is a suffix of the present tense (compare also rinnen, rennen); the form with simple n is seen in Anglo-Saxon bryne, ‘conflagration’ (from bruni). A root bren-, pre-Teutonic bhren, with the meaning ‘to burn,’ has not yet been authenticated in the other Aryan languages.