Brian
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word Brian. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word Brian, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say Brian in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word Brian you have here. The definition of the word Brian will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofBrian, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: brian
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Brian
- A male given name from Irish.
- 1865, Charlotte Eliza L. Riddell, Maxwell Drewitt, London: Tinsley Brothers, pages 255–256:
- "What the deuce is their fancy for calling the young beggar Brian?" he inquired."Is it Brian Boroimhe they have gone back to, or is it some of her people, or what?"
"There was a good Drewitt once," answered Wilhelmina, "- - - and his name was Brian. - - - And Nannie told her, too, how a child always strains after the person it is called after, and how luck follows names, and worked her up to such a pit finally, that nothing would do her but the young gentleman must be called Brian and accordingly Brian he is - Brian Archibald. It is not an easy name to make fun out of; so all I can do is to call him Brin Baldy.
- 2008, Phill Young, FarArc, Author House, →ISBN, page 145:
- Why oh why had his parents even considered Brian? Brian is someone who works in a hardware shop or fixes the U bend. What chance did Sir Lovesdaslutalot have in life with a name like Brian? You can't even shorten Brian to Bri without it sounding like a kind of cheese!
- A surname.
Usage notes
- After the Middle Ages, mostly used in Ireland; and again popular in all English-speaking countries in the 20th century.
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
male given name
|
Further reading
Brian Boru on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
Cebuano
Etymology 1
Unknown.
Proper noun
Brian
- a surname
Etymology 2
From English Brian, from Irish Brian.
Proper noun
Brian
- a male given name from Irish
Danish
Etymology
Borrowed from English Brian in the 20th century, ultimately from Irish.
Proper noun
Brian
- a male given name
References
- Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 22 165 males with the given name Brian have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1970s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.
Faroese
Etymology
From English Brian (possibly via Danish Brian), ultimately from Irish Brian.
Proper noun
Brian m
- a male given name
Usage notes
- son of Brian: Briansson
- daughter of Brian: Briansdóttir
Declension
| singular | |
|---|---|
| indefinite | |
| nominative | Brian |
| accusative | Brian |
| dative | Briani |
| genitive | Brians |
French
Etymology
Via English Brian from Irish Brian, ultimately from Breton Brien.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Brian m
- a male given name
Irish
Etymology
From Middle Irish Brían, probably from Old Breton Brient (modern Breton Brien). The name Brian seems to have been unknown in Ireland before Brian Boru, founder of the Ua Briain or Uí Bhriain dynasty, although the possibly related name Brión is found earlier, in Brión mac Echach Muigmedóin, the 4th/5th century ancestor of the Uí Briúin dynasty.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Brian m (genitive Briain)
- a male given name
Derived terms
- Ó Briain, Ní Bhriain (“O'Brien”)
Descendants
Mutation
| radical | lenition | eclipsis |
|---|---|---|
| Brian | Bhrian | mBrian |
Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.
References
- ^ Sean Duffy, Brian Boru and the Battle of Clontarf (2013): "when Brian was born—as we have seen, some time between 927 and 941—the only place in which the name Brian is found is not Ireland but Brittany. (And, incidentally, the occasional occurrence of the name in later mediaeval England derives not from our Brian or from Ireland but from landed connections between England and Brittany arising from the Norman conquest in 1066.) the name Brian occurs regularly among the families of the Breton nobility in this age but is hitherto unknown in Ireland the only one of Brian's contemporaries to bear it was Brian mac Máelruanaid, the king of Iar-Chonnachta who died in 1004, a younger kinsman of ."
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “Brian”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN