A prickly thorny shrub, especially a blackberry or raspberry plant, with sharp thorns and edible berries.
From Old English brembel, related to Old High German breme. The word may trace to a root meaning 'to burn' or 'to prick,' fitting the plant's thorny nature. Used since at least 1000 CE.
Brambles appear in some of humanity's oldest literature—in Beowulf and medieval texts—as symbols of both danger and reward, since the berries hidden among the thorns are delicious but difficult to harvest.
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