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Brain

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brain¹

  • /ˈbɹeɪ̯n/ US, UK
  • /ˈbɹæ̝ɪ̯n/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /ˈbɾen/ Scotland
  • /ˈbɾein/ Wales

Sounds like brane (pane–pain merger) · Rhymes with -eɪn

Where it comes from

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mregʰ-

Proto-Indo-European *-n̥

Proto-Indo-European *mrógʰ-n̥ ~ *mrégʰ-n̥-s

Proto-Germanic *bragną

Proto-West Germanic *bragn

Old English bræġn

Middle English brayn

English brain

Inherited from Middle English brayn, from Old English bræġn, from Proto-West Germanic *bragn, from Proto-Germanic *bragną, from Proto-Indo-European *mrógʰ-n̥ ~ *mrégʰ-n̥-s, from *mregʰ- + *-n̥.

Cognate with Scots braine, brane (“brain”), North Frisian brayen, brein, Brain (“brain”), Saterland Frisian Brainge, Bräienge (“brain”), West Frisian brein (“brain”), Dutch brein (“brain”), Low German Brägen, Bregen (“brain”) (whence German Bregen (“animal brain”)), Ancient Greek βρεχμός (brekhmós, “front part of the skull, top of the head”).

noun brains · brayne

  1. countable, uncountable The control center of the central nervous system of an animal located in the skull, consisting of the cerebrum, cerebellum, and brainstem, which is responsible for perception, cognition, attention, memory, emotion, and action. The Ueynes are ſpred foorth throughout the whole bodie, howbeit from one welhead, that is to ſay from the Liuer: ſo be the Sinews, howbeit from the Brayne; So likewiſe are the Heartſtrings, howbeit from the Heart.
  2. countable, uncountable A part of the brain, especially associated with particular mental functions, abilities, etc. The left brain, or that which supplies and animates the right side of the body, is the most active brain, as a general rule.
  3. countable, obsolete, uncountable skull; head caused the young Princess, the King's only Daughter, to be taken and thrust into a large velvet Sack, and her Brains to be knockt out with great Bars
  4. countable, informal, uncountable Mind. I have too much on my brain today.
  5. countable, in plural, uncountable Intellect. "We provided a lot of brains and a lot of heart to the response when it was needed," says Sandra Sanchez, director of AFSC's Immigrants' Voice Program in Des Moines.
  6. countable, informal, uncountable An intelligent person. She was a total brain.
  7. countable, informal, plural, plural only, uncountable A person who provides the intelligence required for something. He is the brains behind the scheme.
  8. countable, informal, singular, uncountable An intellectual or mental capacity. Gerald always acts like he doesn't have a brain.
  9. countable, uncountable By analogy with a human brain, the part of a machine or computer that performs calculations. The computer's brain is capable of millions of calculations a second.
  10. slang, uncountable, vulgar Oral sex. Have you ever popped champagne on a plane, while gettin' some brain?
  11. countable, uncountable A loose compartment of a backpack that straps on over the top opening.

Similar: brain, encephalon, harns

verb brains · braining · brained

  1. transitive To dash out the brains of; to kill by smashing the skull.
  2. transitive To strike (someone) on the head. Lambdon would require medical attention for a fractured skull. It seemed that Fen had passed his wife a couple of telling pictures, whereupon the drab Mrs. Lambdon had brained her husband with a table lamp.
  3. figuratively, transitive To destroy; to put an end to. There thou maiſt braine him,
  4. obsolete, transitive To conceive in the mind; to understand. 'Tis still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen / Tongue, and brain not.
  5. humorous, intransitive, nonstandard To think effectively. My brain isn't braining right now.

Brain²

Where it comes from

From the Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, from mac an Bhreitheamhan (“son of the judge”), from breitheamh (“judge”).

proper noun Brains

  1. A surname.

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