brian
See also: Brian
English edit
Etymology edit
From dialectal English, probably variant of brine (“to burn”), from brine (“a burning”), from Middle English brüne (“a burn, a burning”), from Old English bryne (“a burning, conflagration, fire, flame, heat, inflammation, burn, scald, torch, fervor, passion”), from Proto-Germanic *bruniz (“fire, burning”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenu- (“burn, fire”). Cognate with Scots brin (“a flash”), Scots brin, bryne (“to be on fire, be inflamed, burn”), Old Norse bruni (“fire, burning”). More at burn.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (US) (file)
Verb edit
brian (third-person singular simple present brians, present participle brianing, simple past and past participle brianed)
- (dialectal, Northern England) To keep fire at the mouth of (as of an oven), to give light or to preserve heat.
Related terms edit
Anagrams edit
Yola edit
Noun edit
brian
- Alternative form of bryne (“brain”)
References edit
- Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 28