bruin

See also: bruín

English

Etymology

From Middle Dutch bruin (“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.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbɹuːɪn/
  • Rhymes: -uːɪn

Noun

bruin (plural bruins)

  1. A folk name for a bear, especially the brown bear, Ursus arctos.
    • 1989, Keith Bosley, translating Elias Lönnrot, The Kalevala, 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 […].

Anagrams

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch bruin.

Adjective

bruin (attributive bruine, comparative bruiner, superlative bruinste)

  1. brown

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /brœy̯n/
  • Rhymes: -œy̯n
  • audio(file)

Etymology 1

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

Adjective

bruin (comparative bruiner, superlative bruinst)

  1. brown
Inflection
Inflection of bruin
uninflected bruin
inflected bruine
comparative bruiner
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial bruinbruinerhet bruinst
het bruinste
indefinite m./f. sing. bruinebruinerebruinste
n. sing. bruinbruinerbruinste
plural bruinebruinerebruinste
definite bruinebruinerebruinste
partitive bruinsbruiners—
Derived terms

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

Colors in Dutch · kleuren (layout · text)
     wit      grijs      zwart      bruin
             roze              rood ; karmijnrood              oranje              geel ; roomwit
             groengeel/limoengroen              groen                           blauwgroen/cyaan ; groenblauw/petrolblauw
             azuurblauw              blauw              violet ; indigo              magenta ; paars
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