- embrace (v.)
- mid-14c., "clasp in the arms," from Old French embracier (12c., Modern French embrasser) "clasp in the arms, enclose; covet, handle, cope with," from assimilated form of en- "in" (see en- (1)) + brace, braz "the arms," from Latin bracchium (neuter plural brachia); see brace (n.). Related: Embraced; embracing; embraceable. Replaced Old English clyppan (see clip (v.2)), also fæðm (see fathom (v.)). Sexual sense is from 1590s.
- embrace (n.)
- "a hug," 1590s, from embrace (v.). Earlier noun was embracing (late 14c.). Middle English embrace (n.) meant "bribery."
