Bruin

name, noun

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A bear character in fairy stories, etc., especially when anthropomorphised. literary

    "When he had driven some distance he met a pedlar. "Where is the sheriff off to, to-day?" said the pedlar; "he must have a long way and little time, since he is driving so fast." But Bruin did not say a word, for he had more than enough to do to hold on."

  2. 2
    A surname from Dutch. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    An unincorporated community in Elliott County, Kentucky, United States. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A borough of Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States. countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    A folk name for a bear, especially the brown bear, Ursus arctos.

    "The mother sought the one gone / astray, for the lost she longs: / she ran great swamps as a wolf / trod the wilds as a bruin / waters as an otter roamed […]."

  2. 2
    large ferocious bear of Eurasia wordnet
  3. 3
    a conventional name for a bear used in tales following usage in the old epic ‘Reynard the Fox’ wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch bruun (“brown”) via William Caxton's 1485 translation of a Dutch version of the legend of Reynard the Fox. Bruin is the bear, named for his brown color. Doublet of brown.

Etymology 2

From Dutch bruin (“brown”), used as a name for the bear in Reynard the Fox.

Etymology 3

* As a Dutch surname, borrowed from Dutch Bruin, from the adjective bruin (“brown”). Compare Braun. * As an English surname, possibly a pronunciation of the French surname Brun, from the adjective brun (“brown”), related to above. * As an Alemannic German surname, variant of Bruhin.

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