bear

English Online Dictionary. What means bear‎? What does bear mean?

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô (compare West Frisian bear, Dutch beer, German Bär, Danish bjørn).

Pronunciation

• enPR: bâr
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɛə(ɹ)/, /bɛː(ɹ)/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /bɛɚ/
  • (General Australian) IPA^(key): /beː/, [beː~bɛː]
  • Homophone: bare
  • Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)
  • (India) IPA^(key): /ˈbiːə(r)/, /bɛː(r)/
  • (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /beə/, [beə~bɪə]
  • Homophone: beer (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger)
• (Southern US, colloquial) IPA^(key): /bɑɹ/
  • Homophone: bar (Southern US, colloquial)

Noun

bear (countable and uncountable, plural bears)

2. A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous), related to the dog and raccoon, having shaggy hair, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of the family Ursidae.
   1. (cooking, uncountable) The meat of this animal.

3. (figuratively) A rough, unmannerly, uncouth person. [1579]
4. (finance) An investor who sells commodities, securities, or futures in anticipation of a fall in prices. [1744]

   Antonym: bull
5. (CB radio, slang, US) A state policeman (short for Smokey Bear). [1970s]
6. (gay slang) A large, hairy man, especially one who is homosexual. [c. 1970]

   Antonym: twink

7. (Australia) A koala (bear).
8. (engineering) A portable punching machine.
9. (nautical) A block covered with coarse matting, used to scour the deck.
10. (cartomancy) The fifteenth Lenormand card.
11. (colloquial, US) Something difficult or tiresome; a burden or chore.

Synonyms

• (large omnivorous mammal): see Thesaurus:bear
• (rough, uncouth person): see Thesaurus:troublemaker
• (police officer): see Thesaurus:police officer

Coordinate terms

• (large, hairy gay man): otter, twink, twunk

Derived terms

Descendants

• Belizean Creole: byaa
• → Hawaiian: pea
• → Irish: béar
• → Maori: pea
• → Niuean: pea
• → Tahitian: pea
• → Tokelauan: pea
• → Wallisian: pea
• → Xhosa: ibhere

Translations

Verb

bear (third-person singular simple present bears, present participle bearing, simple past and past participle beared)

1. (finance, transitive) To endeavour to depress the price of, or prices in.

Adjective

bear (not comparable)

1. (finance, investments) Characterized by declining prices in securities markets or by belief that the prices will fall.

Translations

See also

• ursine
• Appendix:Animals
• Appendix:English collective nouns

References

• Donald A. Ringe, From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (2006), Linguistic history of English, vol. 1, Oxford: Oxford University Press →ISBN

Further reading

• bear on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

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, 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”).

Pronunciation

• like bear (“large ursine mammal”) (/bɛə(ɹ)/)

Verb

bear (third-person singular simple present bears, present participle bearing, simple past bore or (archaic) bare, past participle borne or bore or (see usage notes) born)

2. (chiefly transitive) To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
   1. (transitive) To carry (weapons, flags or symbols of rank, office, etc.) upon one's person, especially visibly; to be equipped with (weapons, etc.).

   2. (transitive) To wear (garments, pieces of jewellery, etc.).

   3. (transitive, rarely intransitive, of a woman or female animal) To carry (offspring in the womb), to be pregnant (with).

   4. (transitive) To have or display (a mark or other feature).
   5. (transitive) To display (a particular heraldic device) on a shield or coat of arms; to be entitled to wear or use (a heraldic device) as a coat of arms. [1400]

   6. (transitive) To present or exhibit (a particular outward appearance); to have (a certain look). [1200]
   7. (transitive) To have (a name, title, or designation). [1225]
   8. (transitive) To possess or enjoy (recognition, renown, a reputation, etc.); to have (a particular price, value, or worth). [1393]

   9. (transitive, of an investment, loan, etc.) To have (interest or a specified rate of interest) stipulated in its terms. [1686]

   10. (transitive, of a person or animal) To have (an appendage, organ, etc.) as part of the body; (of a part of the body) to have (an appendage).

   11. (transitive) To carry or hold in the mind; to experience, entertain, harbour (an idea, feeling, or emotion).
   12. (transitive, rare) To feel and show (respect, reverence, loyalty, etc.) to, towards, or unto a person or thing.

   13. (transitive) To possess inherently (a quality, attribute, power, or capacity); to have and display as an essential characteristic.

   14. (transitive, of a thing) To have (a relation, correspondence, etc.) to something else. [1556]

   15. (transitive) To give (written or oral testimony or evidence); (figurative) to provide or constitute (evidence or proof), give witness.

   16. (transitive) To have (a certain meaning, intent, or effect).
   17. (reflexive, transitive) To behave or conduct (oneself).
   18. (transitive, rare) To possess and use, to exercise (power or influence); to hold (an office, rank, or position).
   19. (intransitive, obsolete) To carry a burden or burdens. [1450]
   20. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To take or bring (a person) with oneself; to conduct. [1590]
3. To support, sustain, or endure.
   2. (transitive) To support or sustain; to hold up.

   4. (now transitive outside certain set patterns such as 'bear with'; formerly also intransitive) To endure or withstand (hardship, scrutiny, etc.); to tolerate; to be patient (with).

      Synonyms: brook, endure; see also Thesaurus:tolerate
   5. (transitive) To sustain, or be answerable for (blame, expense, responsibility, etc.).
   6. (transitive) To admit or be capable of (a meaning); to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change.
   7. (transitive) To warrant, justify the need for.

4. To support, keep up, or maintain.
   1. (transitive) To afford, to be something to someone, to supply with something. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
      • 1732–4, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, Longmans, Green & Co, 1879, bear%20him%20company%20pope&hl=de&pg=PA10#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 10:

        […] admitted to that equal sky, / His faithful dog shall bear him company.

   2. (transitive) To carry on, or maintain; to have. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
5. To press or impinge upon.
   1. (intransitive, usually with on, upon, or against) To push, thrust, press.
   2. (intransitive, figuratively) To take effect; to have influence or force; to be relevant.

   3. (intransitive, military, usually with on or upon) Of a weapon, to be aimed at an enemy or other target.
      • 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.

6. To produce, yield, give birth to.
   2. (transitive, ditransitive) To give birth to (someone or something) (may take the father of the direct object as an indirect object).
   3. (transitive, less commonly intransitive) To produce or yield something, such as fruit or crops.
7. (intransitive, originally nautical) To be, or head, in a specific direction or azimuth (from somewhere).

8. (transitive, obsolete) To gain or win.
   • April 5, 1549, Hugh Latimer, The Fifth Sermon Preached Before King Edward (probably not in original spelling)

     She was […] found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge.

Usage notes

• The past participle of bear is usually borne:
  • He could not have borne that load.
  • She had borne five children.
  • This is not to be borne!
• However, when bear is used in the passive voice to mean "to be given birth to" literally or figuratively (e.g. be created, be the result of), the form used is born:
  • She was born on May 3.
  • Racism is usually born out of a real or feared loss of power to a minority or a real or feared decrease in relative prosperity compared to that of the minority.
  • Born three years earlier, he was the eldest of his siblings.
  • "The idea to create [the Blue Ridge Parkway] was born in the travail of the Great Depression […] ." (Tim Pegram, The Blue Ridge Parkway by Foot: A Park Ranger's Memoir, →ISBN, 2007, page 1)
• Both spellings have been used in the construction born(e) into the world/family and born(e) of or to someone (as a child). The borne spellings are more frequent in older and religious writings.
  • He was born(e) to Mr. Smith.
  • She was born(e) into the most powerful family in the city.
  • "[M]y father was borne to a Swedish mother and a Norwegian father, both devout Lutherans." (David Ross, Good Morning Corfu: Living Abroad Against All Odds, →ISBN, 2009)
• In some colloquial speech, beared can be found for both the simple past and the past participle, although it is usually considered nonstandard and avoided in writing. Similarly, bore may be extended to the past participle; the same provisos apply for this form.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

References

• “bear”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “bear”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /bɪə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /bɪɚ/

Noun

bear (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of bere (“barley”).
   • 1800, Tuke, Agric., 119:

     There are several plots of those species of barley called big, which is six-rowed barley; or bear, which is four-rowed, cultivated.

   • 1802-1816, Papers on Sutherland Estate Management, published in 1972, Scottish History Society, Publications:

     Your Horses are Getting Pease Straw, and looking very well. The 2 Stacks of Bear formerly mentioned as Put in by Mr Bookless is not fully dressed as yet so that I cannot say at present what Quantity they may Produce .

Derived terms

• bearmeal

Etymology 4

From Middle English bere (“pillowcase”), of obscure origin, but compare Old English hlēor-bera (“cheek-cover”). Possibly cognate to Low German büre, whence German Bühre, which in turn has been compared to French bure.

Pronunciation

• (originally) like bear (“large ursine mammal”) (/bɛə(ɹ)/)
• (later sometimes) like bear (“barley”) (/bɪə(ɹ)/) (compare pillowbeer)

Noun

bear (uncountable)

1. Alternative spelling of bere (“pillowcase”).
   • 1905, Emily Wilder Leavitt, Palmer Groups: John Melvin of Charlestown and Concord, Mass. and His Descendants ; Gathered and Arranged for Mr. Lowell Mason Palmer of New York, page 24:

     I give to my Grand Child Lidea Carpenter the Coverlid that her mother spun and my pillow bear and a pint Cup & my great Pott that belongs to the Pott and Trammels.

Alternative forms

• bere

See also

• afterbear
• forebear

Anagrams

• Aber, Bare, Baré, Brea, Reba, bare, brae, rabe

Irish

Noun

bear m pl

1. alternative genitive plural of bior (“pointed rod or shaft; spit, spike; point”)

Mutation

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bear”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

West Frisian

Etymology

From Old Frisian *bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɪə̯r/

Noun

bear c (plural bearen, diminutive bearke)

1. bear

   Hoewol't de earste bearen net tige grut wiene, hawwe se harren meitiid wol ta grutte lichemsomfang ûntwikkele. ― Although the first bears were not very large, they have since developed to be much larger.

Further reading

• “bear (II)”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011