Etymology From Middle English brood, brod, from Old English brōd (“brood; foetus; breeding, hatching”), from Proto-Germanic *brōduz (“heat, breeding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“breath, mist, vapour, steam”).
The young of certain animals, especially a group of young birds or fowl hatched at one time by the same mother.
As a hen doth gather her brood under her wings.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 13:34:
2
The young of any egg-laying creature, especially if produced at the same time.
3
The eggs and larvae of social insects such as bees, ants and some wasps, especially when gathered together in special brood chambers or combs within the colony.
4
The children in one family; offspring.
Ay, lord, she will become thy bed, I warrant, / And bring thee forth brave brood.1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
Garland Green, the tenth in a brood of eleven, was born on June 24, 1942, in Dunleath, Mississippi.1990, Wayne Jancik, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, →ISBN, page 243:
5
That which is bred or produced; breed; species.
[…] flocks of the airy brood, Cranes, geese or long-neck'd swans, here, there, proud of their pinions fly […]1598, George Chapman translation of Homer's Iliad, Book 2
Devouring Time, blunt thou the lion's paws, And make the earth devour her own sweet brood […]1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 19”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:
Etymology From Middle English brood, brod, from Old English brōd (“brood; foetus; breeding, hatching”), from Proto-Germanic *brōduz (“heat, breeding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“breath, mist, vapour, steam”).
1
Of animals Kept or reared for breeding.
brood ducks
a brood mare
brood
verb
Etymology From Middle English brood, brod, from Old English brōd (“brood; foetus; breeding, hatching”), from Proto-Germanic *brōduz (“heat, breeding”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“breath, mist, vapour, steam”).
1
To keep an egg warm to make it hatch.
In some species of birds, both the mother and father brood the eggs.
2
To protect (something that is gradually maturing); to foster.
Under the rock was a midshipman fish, brooding a mass of eggs.
3
(typically with over, on or about) To dwell upon one's thoughts moodily and at length, mainly alone.
He sat brooding over the upcoming battle, fearing the outcome.
As when with downcast eyes we muse and brood1833, Alfred Tennyson, (Please provide the book title or journal name):
4 more examples
Brooding over all these matters, the mother felt like one who has evoked a spirit.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 6, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
But Claggart's was no vulgar form of the passion. Nor, as directed toward Billy Budd, did it partake of that streak of apprehensive jealousy that marred Saul's visage perturbedly brooding on the comely young David. Claggart's envy struck deeper.1888–1891, Herman Melville, “[Billy Budd, Foretopman.] Chapter XI.”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC, pages 256–257:
Fitzwilliam was of a genial, even playful, disposition, but he had come home brooding and depressed.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:
And as I sat there brooding on the old, unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.1925, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, chapter 9, in The Great Gatsby, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1953, →ISBN, page 182: