Anglo-Saxon masc. proper name, Old English Æðelbryht, literally "nobility-bright;" from æðele "noble" (see atheling) + bryht "bright; splendid; beautiful; divine" (from PIE root *bhereg- "to shine; bright, white").
Entries linking to ethelbert
atheling n.
"member of a noble family," Old English æðling, from æðel "noble family, race, ancestry; nobility, honor," related to Old English æðele "noble," from Proto-Germanic *athala- (cognates: Old Frisian edila "(great-)grandfather," Old Saxon athali "noble descent, property," Old High German adal "noble family"), which is perhaps from PIE *at-al- "race, family," from *at(i)- "over, beyond, super" + *al- "to nourish." With suffix -ing "belonging to." A common Germanic word, cognates include Old Saxon ediling, Old Frisian etheling, Old High German adaling.
*bhereg-
*bherəg-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shine; bright, white." It forms all or part of: Albert; Bertha; birch; bright; Egbert; Ethelbert; Gilbert; Herbert; Hubert; Lambert; Robert.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit bhrajate "shines, glitters;" Lithuanian brėkšti "to dawn;" Welsh berth "bright, beautiful."