Bridge
Old English brycg (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch brug and German Brücke .
wiktionary
From Middle English brigge, from Old English brycġ(“bridge”), from Proto-Germanic *brugjō, *brugjǭ(“bridge”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerw-, *bʰrēw-(“wooden flooring, decking, bridge”).
Cognate with Scots brig, brigg, breeg(“bridge”), Saterland Frisian Brääch(“bridge”), West Frisian brêge(“bridge”), Dutch brug(“bridge”), German Brücke(“bridge”), Danish bro(“bridge”) and brygge(“wharf”), Icelandic brú(“bridge”) and brygga(“pier”), Gaulish briua(“bridge”), Serbo-Croatian brv(“bridge, crossbar”), Old Church Slavonic бръвъно(brŭvŭno, “beam”) and Russian бревно́(brevnó, “log”).
The verb is from Middle English briggen, from Old English brycġian(“to bridge, make a causeway, pave”), derived from the noun. Cognate with Dutch bruggen(“to bridge”), Middle Low German bruggen(“to bridge”), Old High German bruccōn(“to bridge”) (whence Modern German brücken).
From the earlier form (name of an older card game) biritch, probably from Russian бири́ч(biríč) (per the OED), or else from Turkish bir- üç, "one-three". [1] [2]
etymonline
bridge (n.1)
"any structure that affords passage over a ravine or river," Old English brycge, from Proto-Germanic *brugjo (source also of Old Saxon bruggia, Old Norse bryggja, Old Frisian brigge, Dutch brug, Old High German brucca, German Brücke), from PIE root *bhru "log, beam," hence "wooden causeway" (source also of Gaulish briva "bridge," Old Church Slavonic bruvuno "beam," Serbian brv "footbridge").
The original notion is of a beam or log. Compare Old Church Slavonic mostu, Serbo-Croatian most "bridge," probably originally "beam" and a loanword from Germanic, related to English mast (n.1). For vowel evolution, see bury. Meaning "bony upper part of the nose" is from early 15c.; of stringed instruments from late 14c. The bridge of a ship (by 1843) originally was a "narrow raised platform athwart the ship whence the Captain issues his orders" [Sir Geoffrey Callender, "Sea Passages"].
Bridge in steam-vessels is the connection between the paddle-boxes, from which the officer in charge directs the motion of the vessel. [Smyth, "The Sailor's Word-book," 1867]
bridge (n.2)
card game, 1886 (perhaps as early as 1843), an alteration of biritch, but the source and meaning of that are obscure. "Probably of Levantine origin, since some form of the game appears to have been long known in the Near East" [OED]. One guess is that it represents Turkish *bir-üç "one-three," because one hand is exposed and three are concealed. The game also was known early as Russian whist (attested in English from 1839).
bridge (v.)
"build a bridge on or over, span with a bridge," Old English brycgian "to bridge, make a causeway," from bridge (n.). Figurative use by 1831. Related: Bridged; bridging.
