Past tense of 'brook,' meaning to tolerate or allow something, often used in negative contexts like 'brooked no argument.'
From Old English 'brucan' meaning 'to use' or 'enjoy,' related to German 'brauchen.' The sense evolved from 'to use' to 'to put up with' or 'tolerate.'
Shakespeare used 'brook' to mean 'tolerate,' and it's still alive in formal writing—'he would not brook any delays.' It's fascinating how this word stayed almost frozen in time while other Old English verbs completely disappeared.
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