briar

See also: Briar

English edit

A sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa, syn. Rosa eglanteria). Mudgee, New South Wales.

From Middle English brere, from Old English brēr, brǣr (“briar; bramble”). Compare Icelandic brörr (“briar”).

briar (plural briars)

Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera.
- 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “May. Aegloga Quinta.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, →OCLC:
  Youngthes folke now flocken in every where,
  To gather May-buskets and smelling brere
(figurative) Anything sharp or unpleasant to the feelings.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 2:6:
  ¶ And thou ſonne of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their wordes, though bryars and thornes be with thee, and thou doeſt dwell among ſcorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be diſmayed at their lookes, though they be a rebellious houſe.
- 1785, William Cowper, The Task‎^[1]:
  Rov'd far, and gather'd much : some harsh, 't is true, / Pick'd from the thorns and briers of reproof, / But wholesome, well-digested; […]