Brothel
mid 16th century (originally brothel-house ): from late Middle English brothel ‘worthless man, prostitute’, related to Old English brēothan ‘degenerate, deteriorate’.
wiktionary
Short for brothel-house(“house of prostitution”), from brothel(“a wretch; scoundrel; lecher; harlot; prostitute”) + house, influenced by bordel. For more on brothel(“a wretch”), see below.
Middle English brothel, brodel, brodelle, brethel(“a wretch, a depraved man or woman”) (compare also Middle English bretheling(“a wretch”)), apparently from an unrecorded Old English *brēoþel(“degenerative, corruptive”), related to Old English ābrēoþan(“to unsettle, degrade, ruin, frustrate, degenerate, deteriorate, fall away”); Old English ābroþen(“degenerate, base, trifling”); both ultimately from Proto-Germanic *breuþaną(“to fall apart; crumble”).
etymonline
brothel (n.)
"bawdy house," 1590s, shortened from brothel-house, from brothel "prostitute" (late 15c.), earlier "vile, worthless person" of either sex (14c.), from Old English broðen past participle of breoðan "deteriorate, go to ruin," from Proto-Germanic *breuthan "to be broken up," related to *breutan "to break" (see brittle). In 16c. brothel-house was confused with unrelated bordel (see bordello) and the word shifted meaning from a person to a place.
