The authors agree that the surname derives from the Sicilian term related to "to burn, to toast", probably applied as a nickname to people with a dark or sun-tanned complexion.

E. Rossoni derives it from the Sicilian verb abbruscare ("to toast, to burn"), possibly as a nickname for someone with a dark or heavily tanned complexion.

V. Blunda specifies that it belongs to the group of Sicilian surnames formed on adjectives describing physical appearance. He derives it from the dialectal word abbruscàtu ("burnt, scalded"), which probably alluded to someone whose skin was darkened by the sun, a characteristic trait of Sicilian field workers exposed to the elements during long days. He notes that in the island's onomastics it coexists with related forms such as Bruscato and Bruscatu.