English 'brittle' from Middle English 'britel,' from Old English 'brēotan' (to break), from Proto-Germanic '*breutaną,' from PIE *bʰrewd- (to break).
Hard but easily broken or snapped; lacking flexibility or resilience.
From Middle English 'britel' (fragile, easily broken), from Old English '*brytel' (related to 'brēotan,' to break, to shatter), from Proto-Germanic '*breutaną' (to break), from PIE *bʰrewd- (to cut, to break). The same PIE root gives English 'bruise' (originally meaning to crush or break) and possibly 'bread' (something broken). Key roots: *bʰrewd- (Proto-Indo-European: "to brew, to boil (the connection to brittle is through OE brytan/crush, semantic path is disputed)").
In materials science, 'brittleness' is the precise opposite of 'ductility.' A brittle material (like glass or cast iron) fractures with little deformation; a ductile material (like gold or copper) bends before it breaks. The candy 'peanut brittle' gets its name from the texture — cooked sugar that snaps cleanly. Metaphorically, a 'brittle' personality is one that seems hard