bracket [L16th] This support is apparently via French braguette from Spanish bragueta ‘codpiece, bracket, corbel’. The base is Latin brāca, singular of brācae ‘breeches’; it seems that the architectural bracket may have derived its name from a resemblance to the codpiece of a pair of breeches. An erroneous connection with Latin brachium ‘arm’ (see bracelet), because of the notion of ‘support’, seems to have affected the sense development.