bear
verb
- to endure
- to carry
- hold, support, endure (literally or figuratively)
- has relation to
- move
noun
- large and dangerous, yet cuddly-looking animal
- heraldic animal
- any member of bear family
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɛə/ / /bɛː/ / /bɜː(ɹ)/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-der.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-der. Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer-der. Proto-Germanic *berô Proto-West Germanic *berō Old English bera Middle English bere English bear From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô (“bear”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian beer (“bear”), Saterland Frisian Boar, Boare (“bear”), West Frisian bear (“bear”), Cimbrian and Mòcheno per (“bear”), Dutch beer (“bear”), German Bär (“bear”), German Low German Boor (“bear”), Limburgish baer, Béër (“bear”), Luxembourgish Bier (“bear”), Vilamovian baor, bar (“bear”), West Flemish beir (“bear”), Yiddish בער (ber, “bear”), Danish, Faroese, and Norwegian Bokmål bjørn (“bear”), Icelandic and Swedish björn (“bear”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjøinn, bjønn, bjørn (“bear”), Gothic *𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰 (*baira, “bear”); also Latin fiber (“beaver”), Greek φρύνος (frýnos, “toad”), Latvian bērs (“bay, brown”), Lithuanian bėras (“bay, reddish brown”), Belarusian бабёр (babjór, “beaver”), Bulgarian бобър (bobǎr, “beaver”), Czech bobr (“beaver”), Macedonian дабар (dabar, “beaver”), Polish bober, bóbr (“beaver”) Russian бобёр (bobjór), бобр (bobr, “beaver”), Serbo-Croatian да̀бар, dàbar (“beaver”), Slovak bobor (“beaver”), Slovene bober (“beaver”), Ukrainian бобе́р (bobér, “beaver”), Armenian բորենի (boreni, “hyena”), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬡𐬭𐬀 (baβra, “beaver”), Northern Kurdish bor (“grey”), Ossetian бур (bur, “yellow”), Persian بور (bur, “blonde, fair; bay, reddish brown; brown”), Yaghnobi вур (vur, “brown”), Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhru, “ichneumon, mongoose”). etymology notes This is generally taken to be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“shining, brown”) (compare Tocharian A parno, Tocharian B perne (“radiant, luminous”), Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)), related to brown, bruin, and beaver. On this theory, the Germanic languages replaced the older name of the bear, *h₂ŕ̥tḱos, with the epithet "brown one", presumably due to taboo avoidance; compare Russian медве́дь (medvédʹ, “bear”, literally “honey-eater”). However, Ringe (2006:106) doubts the existence of a root *bʰer- meaning "brown" ("an actual PIE word of [the requisite] shape and meaning is not recoverable") and suggests that a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer- (“wild animal”) "should therefore perhaps be preferred", implying a Germanic merger of *ǵʰw and *gʷʰ (*gʷʰ may sometimes result in Germanic *b, perhaps e.g. in *bidjaną, but it also seems to have given the g in gun and the w in warm).
- Characterized by declining prices in securities markets or by belief that the prices will fall.
“The great bear market starting in 1929 scared a whole generation of investors.”
name
Etymology: * As an English surname, related to bear * As a German surname, spelling variant of Baer and Bahr
- A surname.
- The constellation Ursa Major.
“But he must ever watch the northern Bear, Who from her frozen height with jealous eye Confronts the Dog and the Hunter in the south, And is alone not dipt in Ocean's stream.”
- A male given name.
“Liam Payne, a former member of the boyband One Direction, has died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to local police. Payne, who was 31, leaves behind his seven-year-old son, Bear.”
noun
Etymology: From Middle English bere (“pillowcase”), of obscure origin, but compare Old English hlēorbera (“cheek-cover”). Possibly cognate to Low German büre, whence German Bühre, which in turn has been compared to French bure.
- Alternative spelling of bere (“pillowcase”).
“And, according to this, one of my Neighbours made a Bag, like a Pillow-bear, of the ordinary six-penny yard Cloth, and boiled his Hops in it half an Hour; then he took them out, and put in another Bag of the like Quantity of fresh Hops, […]”
“ij payer of schete, ij pelows wt the berys,”
verb
Etymology: From Middle English beren (“carry, bring forth”), from Old English beran (“to carry, bear, bring”), from Proto-West Germanic *beran, from Proto-Germanic *beraną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti, from *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”). Akin to Old High German beran (“carry”), Dutch baren, Danish bære, Norwegian Bokmål bære, Norwegian Nynorsk bera, German gebären, Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (bairan), Sanskrit भरति (bharati), Latin ferō, and Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō), Albanian bie (“to bring, to bear”), Russian брать (bratʹ, “to take”), Persian بردن (bordan, “to take, to carry”).
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“They came bearing gifts.”
“Judging from the look on his face, he wasn't bearing good news.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“the right to bear arms”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“The queen bore the royal scepter and crown as she processed into the hall.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“The scan showed that the ewe was bearing twins.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“She still bears the scars from a cycling accident.”
“The stone bears a short inscription.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“The shield bore a red cross.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“He bore the look of a defeated man.”
“The body was unclothed, and bore the appearance of being washed up by the sea.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“The school still bears the name of its founder.”
“[…] imitations that bear the same name as the things […]”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“The dictator bears a terrible reputation for cruelty.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“The bond bears a fixed interest rate of 3.5%.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“Only the male Indian elephant bears tusks.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“to bear a grudge, to bear ill will”
“the ancient grudge I bear him”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“The brothers had always borne one another respect.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“to bear life”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“The punishment bears no relation to the crime.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“His achievements bear testimony to his ability.”
“The jury could see he was bearing false witness.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“This word no longer bears its original meaning.”
“Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain time upon the platform.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“She bore herself well throughout the ordeal.”
“Thus must thou thy body bear.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“Every man should bear rule in his own house.”
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
- To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
“Bear them to my house.”
- To support, sustain, or endure.
“This stone bears most of the weight.”
- To support, sustain, or endure.
“The pain is too much for me to bear.”
“It doesn’t bear thinking about.”
- To support, sustain, or endure.
“The hirer must bear the cost of any repairs.”
“He shall bear their iniquities.”
- To support, sustain, or endure.
“In all criminal cases the most favourable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear.”
- To support, sustain, or endure.
“This storm definitely bears monitoring.”
“An unusually high percentage of the hundreds of gay men who participated in the experimental trials for this vaccine (1978-1980) developed AIDS. Since these trials occurred at about the same time as the first AIDS cases in the same cities […] a possible connection at least bears careful study.”
- To support, keep up, or maintain.
“[…] admitted to that equal sky, / His faithful dog shall bear him company.”
- To support, keep up, or maintain.
“[…] and he finds the Pleasure, and Credit of bearing a Part in the Conversation, and of having his Reasons sometimes approved and hearken'd to.”
- To press or impinge upon.
“The rope has frayed where it bears on the rim of the wheel.”
“These men therefore bear hard upon the suspected party.”
- To press or impinge upon.
“to bring arguments to bear”
“How does this bear on the question?”
- To press or impinge upon.
“The cannons were wheeled around to bear upon the advancing troops.”
“2012, Ronald D. Utt, Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron Constitution's gun crews crossed the deck to the already loaded larboard guns as Bainbridge wore the ship around on a larboard tack and recrossed his path in a rare double raking action to bring her guns to bear again on Java's damaged stern.”
- To produce, yield, give birth to.
“In Troy she becomes Paris’ wife, bearing him several children, all of whom die in infancy.”
“The twins were borne by an Italian mother.”
- To produce, yield, give birth to.
“This year our apple trees bore a good crop of fruit.”
“Betwixt two seasons comes th' auspicious air, / This age to blossom, and the next to bear.”
- To be, or head, in a specific direction or azimuth (from somewhere).
“Carry on past the church and then bear left at the junction.”
“By my readings, we're bearing due south, so we should turn about ten degrees east.”
- To gain or win.
“Some think to bear it by speaking a great word.”
“She was […] found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge.”