bruin

/ˈbɹuːɪn/

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.

noun

  1. A folk name for a bear, especially the brown bear, Ursus arctos.“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 […].”

name

  1. A bear character in fairy stories, etc., especially when anthropomorphised.“When he had driven some distance he met a pedlar. "Where is the sheriff off to, to-day?" said the pedlar; "he must have a long way and little time, since he is driving so fast." But Bruin did not say a word, for he had more than enough to do to hold on.”
  2. A surname from Dutch.
  3. An unincorporated community in Elliott County, Kentucky, United States.
  4. A borough of Butler County, Pennsylvania, United States.