bear

English has two words spelled bear: the verb “to carry”, from the Indo-European root *bher- “to carry”, and the animal, probably “the brown one”; both are inherited from Old English.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /beə/, US /ber/^[4]

bear¹ carry

Etymology

The verb is inherited from Middle English beren,^[1][5] inherited from Old English beran (“to carry, bring; give birth to; endure”), a strong verb (past tense bær, past participle boren),^[2][1] from Proto-Germanic *beraną,^[2][1] which is also the source of Old Saxon and Old High German beran, German gebären “to give birth”, Old Norse bera and Gothic baíran,^[2][1][3] from Proto-Indo-European *bher- (“to carry a burden, bring; give birth”),^[2][1] the root also of Latin ferre, Greek Ancient Greek φέρειν (phérein) and Sanskrit bhárati “carries”.^[1][3][5] It is related to bier, birth, burden and fertile.^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To carry: about 725, in Beowulf,^[1] the Old English verb meaning to carry, to give birth, to endure, to support and to wear.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From early times the verb was also used of mental burdens, suffering and toleration;^[6] bear and forbear is Middle English, and grin and bear it from the early 19th century.^[6] “To possess as a characteristic” is from about 1300,^[2] “to sustain without sinking” from the 1520s, to bear in mind from the 1530s, and “to tend in a direction” from about 1600.^[2] To bear up, to have fortitude, is from the 1650s,^[2] and to bear down, especially at sea, from 1716.^[2] The past tense bore began to appear about 1400, but bare remained the literary form until after 1600;^[2][3] the distinction between borne “carried” and born “given birth” is from the late 18th century.^[2] Only English and German strongly keep the sense “give birth”.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 725 – to carry, in Beowulf.^[1]
• c. 1300 – to have as a characteristic.^[2]
• c. 1400 – past tense bore.^[2][3]
• c. 1454 – bearable.^[1]
• 1530s – to bear in mind.^[2]
• 1650s – to bear up.^[2]
• 1716 – to bear down.^[2]
• late 18th century – borne and born distinguished.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To hold up; to support.
2. To carry; to convey.
3. To have as a visible mark or quality: to bear a scar.
4. To endure or tolerate.
5. To give birth to; to produce fruit.
6. To hold in the mind: to bear a grudge.
7. To move or turn in a given direction: bear left.
8. To be relevant: facts that bear on the case.

Word family

• bearable
• bearer
• bearing
• unbearable
• forbear
• overbear
• childbearing

bear² animal

Etymology

The animal is inherited from Middle English bere,^[1][5] inherited from Old English bera,^[2][1] from Proto-Germanic *berô, literally “the brown one”,^[2][1] which is also the source of Old High German bero (German Bär), Dutch beer and Old Norse björn,^[2][1][3] usually traced to Proto-Indo-European *bher- (“bright; brown”), the root of brown and beaver.^[2][1][5] Greek arktos and Latin ursus keep the Indo-European word for the bear, but in the northern languages it is believed to have been replaced because of a hunters' taboo on naming wild animals,^[2][1] as Irish “the good calf” and Russian medved “honey-eater” also avoid the name.^[2] Others connect the Germanic word with Latin ferus “wild”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 893, in a translation of St Gregory's Dialogues,^[1] and about 1000 in the OED.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The Great and Little Bear constellations are from 1398.^[7] A rough, unmannerly person is from the 1570s,^[2][7] and Russia was symbolised by the bear from 1794.^[2] On the stock market a bear, one who sells for future delivery expecting prices to fall, is from 1709, a shortening of bearskin jobber, from the proverb about selling the bearskin before catching the bear;^[2] it was paired with bull from about 1720.^[2] A bear garden, where bears were kept for spectators, is from the 1590s.^[2] The teddy bear toy is from 1907,^[7] and American slang for a police officer, short for Smokey Bear, from 1975.^[7]

Timeline

• before 893 – the animal.^[1]
• 1398 – the constellations.^[7]
• 1570s – a rough person.^[2]
• 1590s – bear garden.^[2]
• 1709 – a speculator for a fall.^[2]
• 1794 – symbol of Russia.^[2]
• 1907 – a teddy bear.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A large, heavy mammal of the family Ursidae, with thick fur and a short tail.
2. A clumsy, rude or bad-tempered person.
3. A person who sells shares expecting prices to fall.
4. (informal) Something difficult: a bear of a problem.

Adjective

1. Marked by falling prices: a bear market.

Word family

• bearish
• bearlike
• bear garden
• bear hug
• bearskin
• teddy bear
• polar bear

Related words

• berth
• birth
• born
• borne
• burden
• bier
• brown
• beaver
• bruin
• fertile
• arctic

Usage notes

A third, rare bear is a variant of bere, barley.^[5][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)