n. (brysti, provinc. Icel.), [Ulf. brusts, f. pl. = στηθος and σπλάγχνα; A. S. breost; Engl. breast; Hel. briost, n. pl.; Swed. bröst; Dan. bryst, n.; Germ. brust, f.]:—the breast; b. ok kviðr, Eg. 579, Nj. 95; önd í brjósti, K. Þ. K. 26; Lat. uber, a woman’s breast, in pl., fæða barn á brjósti, feed a bairn at the breast, Bs. i. 666, Str. 18, Stj. 429: mod. chiefly in pl. = Lat. mammae; hafa barn á brjóstum; brjósta-mjólk, milk from the breast; brjósta-mein, medic. ulcus or abscessus mammarum, Fél. ix. 202; brjósta-verkr, mastodynia (of women), id.

II. with the ancients the breast was thought to be the abode of the mind, as well as of feeling, hence it is poët. called hug-borg, mun-strönd, reið rýnis, minnis knörr, etc., the castle, strand, wain, ship of mind, of thought, of memory, etc., vide Lex. Poët., Edda 105, Höfuðl. 1, Stor. 18; thus brjóst freq. metaph. means feeling, temper, disposition; hafa ekki b. til e-s, to have no heart for it; kenna í brjósti um e-n, to ‘feel in the breast’ for one, feel compassion for; mun hann vera þrályndr sem faðir hans, en hafa brjóst verra, a harder heart, Sturl. iii. 144, Bs. ii. 70, 41; láta eigi allt fyrir brjósti brenna, of a hardy, daring man; e-m rennr í brjóst, of a light slumber, esp. of one sick.

β. the front, of a wave, Bs. i. 484; b. fylkingar, of a line, Eg. 268, Fms. v. 77.

γ. metaph. the breast-work or protector of one; b. ok hlífskjöldr, Hom. 95; bera (vera) b. fyrir e-m, to be one’s defender, to shield one, Fms. vii. 263, x. 235; the phrase, vinna eið fyrir brjósti e-s, on one’s behalf, Gþl. 484.