köken: From the incorrect folk etymology which connected Quentchen with Quantum (“quantum”) and led to the spelling Quäntchen with ⟨ä⟩ instead of ⟨e⟩ in the 1996 spelling reform.
köken: Unknown origin; possibly of Gaulish origin (compare Catalan bri, Spanish brenca (“fiber”), brinza (“blade of grass, filament”)), from Proto-Celtic *brinikā, from *brinos (“filament, fiber”) (compare Breton broenenn, Welsh brwynen), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrugh-no- (“twig”), perhaps related to the root of English brush.