English Explanatory Dictionary

briar

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera.
  2. Anything that is sharp or unpleasant to the feelings.
noun
  1. Tree heath (Erica arborea), a thorny Mediterranean shrub.
  2. A pipe for smoking, made from the roots of that shrub.
name
  1. A topographic surname from Middle English.
  2. A unisex given name from English.

Pronunciation

/bɹaɪə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-briar.wav /ˈbɹaɪɚ/

Word forms

briar briars brier breer brere breare

Etymology

From Middle English brere, from Old English brēr [Old Mercian], brǣr (“briar, bramble”); further origin unknown, perhaps related to Old French bruiere (“heather”) (French bruyère). Compare Old Norse brǫrr (“briar”), whence Icelandic brörr.

Derived words

briared briar-patch briarwood briary grin like a mule eating briars smile like a mule eating briars sweet briar sweetbriar sweet-briar briar-pipe briar-root Briar Hill
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on B Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary