brain English · revision 3139

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=gmw-pro *bragn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /breɪn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|brain]],^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|bræġen|t=brain]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[gmw-pro|*bragn]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a word of uncertain origin:^(Etymonline) it is found in Old Frisian brein, Middle Low German bregen and Dutch brein,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) but not in Scandinavian or Gothic.^(Barnhart 1988) Many dictionaries relate it to Greek brekhmós, bréchma “front part of the head”, from [[ine-pro|*mreǵʰ-|alt=*mregh-|t=skull, brain]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) but Liberman holds that brain has no established cognates outside West Germanic and is hardly related to the Greek word.^(Liberman 2008)^(Etymonline) He proposes instead a PIE *bhragno “something broken”, the source of Irish bran “chaff, bran”, so that Old English brægen would first have meant “refuse”, much like the modern phrase gray matter.^(Liberman 2008) The verb is from the noun.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English brægen, “the brain”, is recorded about 1000;^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Middle English brain is from probably before 1200, in Layamon.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The brain as the organ of thought, memory and imagination is from about 1230,^(OED 1989) and figurative “intellectual power” from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The plural, for the substance rather than the organ, literal or figurative, dates from the 16th century.^(Etymonline) The verb, “to dash the brains out”, is from 1382, in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) An electronic device performing operations like those of the brain is from 1934.^(OED 1989) A clever person is a ''brain'' by 1914,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and ''brainy'', “clever”, from 1845.^(Barnhart 1988) ''To have something on the brain'' is from 1862.^(Etymonline) ''Brainwashing'' is from 1950, in American English, possibly a translation of Chinese xǐ nǎo “wash brain”.^(Barnhart 1988) An Old English word for the head was brægnloca, literally “brain-locker”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1000 – Old English brægen.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1230 – the organ of thought.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1382 – verb, to dash the brains out.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * late 14th century – intellectual power.^(Etymonline)

+ * 16th century – ''brains'', the substance.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1845 – ''brainy''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1914 – a clever person.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1950 – ''brainwashing''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The organ inside the [[skull]] that controls the body and is the centre of thought, memory and feeling.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Intellectual power; [[intelligence]]: ''use your brain''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(informal)'' A very clever person.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''(informal)'' ''the brains'': The person who plans an operation.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # ''brains'': The brain of an animal used as food.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To kill by smashing the skull; to hit hard on the head.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[brainlike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[brainy]]

+ * [[brainstorm]]

+ * [[brainwash]]

+ * [[brainchild]]

+ * [[harebrained]]

+ * [[scatterbrained]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A separate Middle English adjective ''brain'', “furious, mad”, is from about 1340.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}