bruin

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹuːɪn/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːɪn

Noun

bruin (plural bruins)

1. A folk name for a bear, especially the brown bear, Ursus arctos.
   • 1989, Elias Lönnrot, translated by Keith Bosley, The Kalevala, section XVII:

     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 […].

See also

• oud bruin

Anagrams

• Bruni, Burin, Rubin, burin, rub in, rubin

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch bruin.

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

bruin (attributive bruine, comparative bruiner, superlative bruinste)

1. brown
2. coloured, of mixed-race and/or Southeast Asian stock

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /brœy̯n/

• audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bruin
• Rhymes: -œy̯n

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch bruun, from Old Dutch *brūn, from Proto-West Germanic *brūn, from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz.

Adjective

bruin (comparative bruiner, superlative bruinst)

1. brown

Inflection

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: bruin
• Negerhollands: bruun, brin, bryen
• → Papiamentu: brùin, brein, bruin
• → Sranan Tongo: broin

Etymology 2

From the adjective bruin.

Noun

bruin n (uncountable)

1. the color brown

   Het bruin van de stam contrasteerde fel met het groen van de bladeren.

   The brown color of the trunk contrasted sharply with the green color of the leaves.

Noun

bruin c (uncountable)

1. (slang) heroin

   Mijn god, zit ie aan de bruin? ― My god, is he on heroin?

Usage notes

The expression aan de bruin zijn is used for the addiction to heroin only, not for individual shots.

See also

Papiamentu

Etymology

From Dutch bruin.

Adjective

bruin

1. brown