brian
/ˈbɹaɪ.ən/
brian verb: to keep fire at the mouth of (as of an oven), to give light or to preserve heat.
Verb
brian (third-person singular simple present brians, present participle brianing, simple past and past participle brianed)
Proper noun capitalized: Brian
Brian
- A male given name from Irish.
- "What the deuce is their fancy for calling the young beggar Brian?" he inquired."Is it Brian Boroimhe they have gone back to, or is it some of her people, or what?"
- "There was a good Drewitt once," answered Wilhelmina, "- - - and his name was Brian. - - - And Nannie told her, too, how a child always strains after the person it is called after, and how luck follows names, and worked her up to such a pit finally, that nothing would do her but the young gentleman...1865, Charlotte Eliza L. Riddell, Maxwell Drewitt, London: Tinsley Brothers, pages 255–256
- A surname.
brian meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
brian in Hindi
- ब्रायन, ब्रियन
brian in Tamil
- பிரையன், பிரியன்
brian in Marathi
- ब्रायनला, ब्रायनपर्यंत
brian in Urdu
- برائن, براین
More languagesFewer languages
- brian in Bengali
- মুখে আগুন রাখা
- brian in Telugu
- బ్రియాన్
- brian in Malayalam
- ബ്രയാൻ, ബ്രിയാൻ
- brian in Kannada
- ಬ್ರಿಯಾನ್ಗೆ, ಬ್ರಿಯಾನ್, ಬ್ರಾಯನ್ಗೆ
- brian in Punjabi
- ਬ੍ਰਾਇਨ, ਬ੍ਰਿਅਨ, ਬਰਾਇਨ
- brian in Gujarati
- બ્રાયનને, બ્રાયન, બ્રાયન સુધી
- brian in Odia
- ବ୍ରାଯ଼ାନ୍ଙ୍କୁ, ବ୍ରିଆନ୍ଙ୍କୁ, ବ୍ରିଆନ୍
- brian in Nepali
- ब्रायनलाई, ब्रियनलाई
Forms of brian
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | brians |
| present participle | brianing |
| past participle | brianed |
| past | brianed |
| Proper noun | |
| alternative form | Bryan |
| alternative form | Bryon |
Origin of brian
From dialectal English, probably variant of brine (“to burn”), from brine (“a burning”), from Middle English brüne (“a burn, a burning”), from Old English bryne (“a burning, conflagration, fire, flame, heat, inflammation, burn, scald, torch, fervor, passion”), from Proto-Germanic *bruniz (“fire, burning”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenu- (“burn, fire”). Cognate with Scots brin (“a flash”), Scots brin, bryne (“to be on fire, be inflamed, burn”), Old Norse bruni (“fire, burning”). More at burn.
Borrowed from Irish Brian. Doublet of Brendan.
Words formed from brian
Words that rhyme with brian
Questions about brian
- What does brian mean?
- Brian means to keep fire at the mouth of (as of an oven), to give light or to preserve heat.
- What is brian in Hindi?
- Brian in Hindi is ब्रायन, ब्रियन. See Brian meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is brian?
- Brian can be a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce brian?
- Brian is pronounced /ˈbɹaɪ.ən/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of brian?
- The past tense of brian is brianed.
Words near brian in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: brian (page history and authors); Brian (page history and authors); brian (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); brian (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); brian (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-brian.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Brian.wav.
Cite this entry: “brian.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/brian. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
