*aibraz

Uncertain, but possibly from Proto-Germanic *oy-bʰr-ó-s from Proto-Indo-European *óy- + the zero-grade of the root *bʰer- + thematic *-ó- with a meaning like ‘alone-bearing’ or ‘carrying/keeping to itself’ (Dunkel 2014: 587–88; Wodtko et al. 2008: 16). Possible comparanda are Tocharian A ewär and dialectal Lithuanian aibrùmas (Wodtko et al. 2008: 21 n. 16), perhaps from an earlier sense ‘bitterness, astringency’. Dunkel (2014: 587–88) analyzes the word with a semantic path ‘isolated, alone’ → ‘wild, unruly’ → ‘harsh, fierce’.