brasada

(brazada [brasáða], apparently a combination of brazo 'arm' < Latin brachium 'arm' and -ada, a Spanish derivational suffix; in this case, it may mean accumulation of arms or tree branches, or it may refer to a measure of the amount of firewood or brush that can be carried in both arms). Texas: 1929. A region characterized by dense undergrowth, known as brush country. West Texas features such vegetation; the cattle that graze in such areas are remarkably well-adapted to the rugged terrain. Southwestern sources give a variety of possible etymologies for this word, since no Spanish dictionary contains a similar definition. The VCN and VS reference brazada as a unit of measurement roughly equivalent to that which can be carried in one's open arms. The DRAE includes both brazada and brazado as a measurement for the amount of firewood, sticks, grass, or straw that can be carried in a person's open arms. Blevins's theory that it derives from Spanish bruzada 'brush' (for scrubbing and cleaning), is doubtful. It is more likely, as Bentley and Adams suggest, that the term somehow derives from the Spanish brazo, meaning arm or tree branch.

   Alternate form: brazada.