In the manner or direction of a bracket; arranged or positioned like a bracket structure.
From 'bracket' (from Dutch 'braguet', meaning an arm or support) combined with '-wise' (Old English 'wisan', meaning direction or manner). The suffix '-wise' became productive in English for indicating direction or manner of arrangement.
The '-wise' suffix is incredibly productive in English—we can add it to almost any noun to mean 'in the manner of' or 'in the direction of' (clockwise, lengthwise, otherwise). This reveals how English speakers constantly create new words by combining familiar building blocks.
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