bear

Etymology 1

From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô (compare West Frisian bear, Dutch beer, German Bär, Danish bjørn). etymology notes This is generally taken to be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“shining, brown”) (compare Tocharian A parno, Tocharian B perne (“radiant, luminous”), Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)), related to brown, bruin, and beaver. The Germanic languages replaced the older name of the bear, *h₂ŕ̥tḱos, with the epithet "brown one", presumably due to taboo avoidance; compare Russian медве́дь (medvédʹ, “bear”, literally “honey-eater”). However, Ringe (2006:106) doubts the existence of a root *bʰer- meaning "brown" ("an actual PIE word of [the requisite] shape and meaning is not recoverable") and suggests that a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer- (“wild animal”) "should therefore perhaps be preferred", implying a Germanic merger of *ǵʰw and *gʷʰ (*gʷʰ may sometimes result in Germanic *b, perhaps e.g. in *bidjaną, but it also seems to have given the g in gun and the w in warm).

noun

1. A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous), related to the dog and raccoon, having shaggy hair, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of the family Ursidae.
   1. (cooking, uncountable) The meat of this animal.
      We had barbecued bear for dinner.
2. (figurative) A rough, unmannerly, uncouth person.
3. (finance) An investor who sells commodities, securities, or futures in anticipation of a fall in prices.
   This accompt has been made to appear a bull accompt, i.e. that the bulls cannot take their stock. The fact is the reverse; it is a bear accompt, but the bears, unable to deliver their stock, have conjointly banged the market, and pocketed the tickets, to defeat the rise and loss that would have ensued to them by their buying on a rising price on the accompt day […] 1821, Bank of England, The Bank - The Stock Exchange - The Bankers ..., page 64
4. (CB radio, slang, US) A state policeman (short for Smokey Bear).
   By the time we got into Tulsa Town We had eighty-five trucks in all But there's a roadblock up on the cloverleaf And them bears was wall-to-wall. Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper They even had a bear in the air. I says, "Callin' all trucks, this here's the Duck. We about to go a-huntin' bear." 1975, “Convoy”, in C.W. McCall, Chip Davis (lyrics), Black Bear Road, performed by C. W. McCall
   'The bear's pulling somebody off there at 74,' reported someone else. 1976 June, CB Magazine, Oklahoma City: Communications Publication Corporation, June 40/3
   He was listening for reports of Kojaks with Kodaks, or bear sightings (cop alerts) at his front door (ahead of him), especially plain wrappers (unmarked police cars) parked at specific yardsticks (mile-markers) taking pictures […] 2015, Matt Cashion, Last Words of the Holy Ghost, page 85
5. (gay slang) A large, hairy man, especially one who is homosexual.
   Bears are usually hunky, chunky types reminiscent of railroad engineers and former football greats.] [1979-07-26, George Mazzei, “Who's Who in the Zoo?: A Glossary of Gay Animals”, in Robert I. McQueen, editor, The Advocate, number 272, Liberation Publications, →ISSN, archived from the original on 2014-04-18, page 42
   I have everything it takes to be a bear: broad shoulders, full beard, semibald pate, and lots of body hair. But I don't want to be a fetish. 27 April 2004, Richard Goldstein, “Why I'm Not a Bear”, in The Advocate, number 913, page 72
   There are numerous social organizations for bears in most parts of the United States. Lesbians don't have such prominent sexual subcultures as gay men, although, as just mentioned, some lesbians are into BDSM practices. 2006, Simon LeVay, Sharon McBride Valente, Human sexuality
6. (Australia) A koala (bear).
   Bunyip Bluegum was a tidy bear, he objected to whisker soup[.] 1918, Norman Lindsay, The Magic Pudding, page 8
7. (engineering) A portable punching machine.
8. (nautical) A block covered with coarse matting, used to scour the deck.
9. (cartomancy) The fifteenth Lenormand card.
10. (colloquial, US) Something difficult or tiresome; a burden or chore.
    That window can be a bear to open.
    "This was a real bear to refinish. You can't believe how hard it was right here to get a thousand years of crud out of this carving." 2014, Joe Buda, Pilgrims' Passage: Into a New Millennium; Rebuilding the Past

verb

1. (finance, transitive) To endeavour to depress the price of, or prices in.
   to bear a railroad stock
   to bear the market

adj

1. (finance, investments) Characterized by declining prices in securities markets or by belief that the prices will fall.
   The great bear market starting in 1929 scared a whole generation of investors.

Etymology 2

From Middle English beren (“carry, bring forth”), from Old English beran (“to carry, bear, bring”), from Proto-West Germanic *beran, from Proto-Germanic *beraną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti, from *bʰer- (“to bear, carry”). Akin to Old High German beran (“carry”), Dutch baren, Norwegian Bokmål bære, Norwegian Nynorsk bera, German gebären, Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (bairan), Sanskrit भरति (bhárati), Latin ferō, and Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō), Albanian bie (“to bring, to bear”), Russian брать (bratʹ, “to take”), Persian بردن (bordan, “to take, to carry”).

verb

1. (chiefly transitive) To carry or convey, literally or figuratively.
   1. (transitive, of weapons, flags or symbols of rank, office, etc.) To carry upon one's person, especially visibly; to be equipped with.
      the right to bear arms
   2. (transitive, of garments, pieces of jewellery, etc.) To wear.
   3. (transitive, rarely intransitive, of a woman or female animal) To carry (offspring in the womb), to be pregnant (with).
      The scan showed that the ewe was bearing twins.
   4. (transitive) To have or display (a mark or other feature).
      She still bears the scars from a cycling accident.
      The stone bears a short inscription.
      This bears all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack.
   5. (transitive) To display (a particular heraldic device) on a shield or coat of arms; to be entitled to wear or use (a heraldic device) as a coat of arms.
      The shield bore a red cross.
   6. (transitive) To present or exhibit (a particular outward appearance); to have (a certain look).
      He bore the look of a defeated man.
      The body was unclothed, and bore the appearance of being washed up by the sea. 1930, Essex Chronicle, 18 April 9/5
   7. (transitive) To have (a name, title, or designation).
      The school still bears the name of its founder.
      […] imitations that bear the same name as the things […] 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 234b
      Heinrich Olbers described the paradox that bears his name in 1823. 2013, D. Goldberg, Universe in Rearview Mirror, iii. 99
   8. (transitive) To possess or enjoy (recognition, renown, a reputation, etc.); to have (a particular price, value, or worth).
      The dictator bears a terrible reputation for cruelty.
   9. (transitive, of an investment, loan, etc.) To have (interest or a specified rate of interest) stipulated in its terms.
      The bond bears a fixed interest rate of 3.5%.
   10. (transitive, of a person or animal) To have (an appendage, organ, etc.) as part of the body; (of a part of the body) to have (an appendage).
       Only the male Indian elephant bears tusks.
   11. (transitive) To carry or hold in the mind; to experience, entertain, harbour (an idea, feeling, or emotion).
       to bear a grudge, to bear ill will
   12. (transitive, rare) To feel and show (respect, reverence, loyalty, etc.) to, towards, or unto a person or thing.
       The brothers had always borne one another respect.
   13. (transitive) To possess inherently (a quality, attribute, power, or capacity); to have and display as an essential characteristic.
       to bear life
   14. (transitive, of a thing) To have (a relation, correspondence, etc.) to something else.
       The punishment bears no relation to the crime.
   15. (transitive) To give (written or oral testimony or evidence); (figurative) to provide or constitute (evidence or proof), give witness.
       His achievements bear testimony to his ability.
       The jury could see he was bearing false witness.
   16. (transitive) To have (a certain meaning, intent, or effect).
       This word no longer bears its original meaning.
   17. (reflexive, transitive) To behave or conduct (oneself).
       She bore herself well throughout the ordeal.
   18. (transitive, rare) To possess and use, to exercise (power or influence); to hold (an office, rank, or position).
   19. (intransitive, obsolete) To carry a burden or burdens.
   20. (transitive, obsolete, rare) To take or bring (a person) with oneself; to conduct.
2. To support, sustain, or endure.
   1. (transitive) To support or sustain; to hold up.
      This stone bears most of the weight.
   2. (now transitive outside certain set patterns such as 'bear with'; formerly also intransitive) To endure or withstand (hardship, scrutiny, etc.); to tolerate; to be patient (with).
      The pain is too much for me to bear.
      I would never move to Texas — I can't bear heat.
      This reasoning will not bear much analysis.
      Please bear with me as I try to find the book you need.
      I cannot, cannot bear; ’tis past , ’tis done; / Perish this impious , this detested son; […] 1700, John Dryden, “Meleager and Atalanta”, in The poetical works, volume 4, William Pickering, published 1852, page 169
   3. (transitive) To sustain, or be answerable for (blame, expense, responsibility, etc.).
      The hirer must bear the cost of any repairs.
      What have you gotten there under your arm, Daughter? somewhat, I hope, that will bear your Charges in your Pilgrimage. 1753, John Dryden, The Spanish Friar: or, the Double Discovery, Tonson and Draper, p. 64
   4. (transitive) To admit or be capable of (a meaning); to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change.
      In all criminal cases the most favourable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear. 1724, Drapier's Letters, Jonathan Swift
   5. (transitive) To warrant, justify the need for.
      This storm definitely bears monitoring.
3. To support, keep up, or maintain.
   1. (transitive) To afford, to be something to someone, to supply with something.
      […] admitted to that equal sky, / His faithful dog shall bear him company. 1732–4, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, Longmans, Green & Co, 1879, p. 10
   2. (transitive) To carry on, or maintain; to have.
      […] and he finds the Pleasure, and Credit of bearing a Part in the Conversation, and of having his Reasons sometimes approved and hearken'd to. 1693, John Locke, Some Thoughts Concerning Education, § 98
4. To press or impinge upon.
   1. (intransitive, usually with on, upon, or against) To push, thrust, press.
      The rope has frayed where it bears on the rim of the wheel.
   2. (intransitive, figurative) To take effect; to have influence or force; to be relevant.
      to bring arguments to bear
      How does this bear on the question?
   3. (intransitive, military, usually with on or upon) Of a weapon, to be aimed at an enemy or other target.
      The cannons were wheeled around to bear upon the advancing troops.
      2012, Ronald D. Utt, Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron Constitution's gun crews crossed the deck to the already loaded larboard guns as Bainbridge wore the ship around on a larboard tack and recrossed his path in a rare double raking action to bring her guns to bear again on Java's damaged stern.
5. To produce, yield, give birth to.
   1. (transitive, ditransitive) To give birth to (someone or something) (may take the father of the direct object as an indirect object).
      In Troy she becomes Paris’ wife, bearing him several children, all of whom die in infancy.
      The powerful Bene Gesserit sisterhood for ninety generations has been manipulating bloodlines to produce the Kwisatz Haderach, a superbeing. On Caladan, Jessica, a member of the sisterhood and the bound concubine of Duke Leto Atreides, had been ordered to bear only daughters. Because of her love for the duke, she disobeyed and gave birth to a son: Paul, Paul Atreides. 1984, 10:44 from the start, in Dune (Science Fiction), spoken by Princess Irulan, →OCLC
   2. (transitive, less commonly intransitive) To produce or yield something, such as fruit or crops.
      This year our apple trees bore a good crop of fruit.
      Betwixt two seasons comes th' auspicious air, / This age to blossom, and the next to bear. 1688, John Dryden, Britannia Rediviva
6. (intransitive, originally nautical) To be, or head, in a specific direction or azimuth (from somewhere).
   Carry on past the church and then bear left at the junction.
   By my readings, we're bearing due south, so we should turn about ten degrees east.
   Great Falls bears north of Bozeman.
7. (transitive, obsolete) To gain or win.
   She was […] found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge. April 5, 1549, Hugh Latimer, The Fifth Sermon Preached Before King Edward (probably not in original spelling)

Etymology 3

noun

1. Alternative spelling of bere (“barley”).
   There are several plots of those species of barley called big, which is six-rowed barley; or bear, which is four-rowed, cultivated. 1800, Tuke, Agric., 119
   Bigg or bear, with four grains on the ear, was the kind of barley. 1818, Reports Agric., Marshall, I. 191
   Two stacks of beare, of xx boules, 1895, Whittingham Vale, Dixon, section 130
   […] one wheat stack, one half-stack of corn, and a little hay, all standing in the barnyard; four stacks of bear in the barn, about three bolls of bear lying on the barn floor, two stacks of corn in the barn, […] 1908, Burns Chronicle and Club Directory, page 151
   Your Horses are Getting Pease Straw, and looking very well. The 2 Stacks of Bear formerly mentioned as Put in by Mr Bookless is not fully dressed as yet so that I cannot say at present what Quantity they may Produce . 1802-1816, Papers on Sutherland Estate Management, published in 1972, Scottish History Society, Publications

Etymology 4

Middle English bere (“pillowcase”), of obscure origin, but compare Old English hlēor-bera (“cheek-cover”). Possibly cognate to Low German büre, whence German Bühre, which in turn has been compared to French bure.

noun

1. Alternative spelling of bere (“pillowcase”).
   And, according to this, one of my Neighbours made a Bag, like a Pillow-bear, of the ordinary six-penny yard Cloth, and boiled his Hops in it half an Hour; then he took them out, and put in another Bag of the like Quantity of fresh Hops, […] 1742, William Ellis, The London and Country Brewer … Fourth Edition, page 36
   ij payer of schete, ij pelows wt the berys, 1850, Samuel Tymms, Wills and Inventories from the Registers of the Commissary of Bury St. Edmunds and the Archdeacon of Sudbury, page 116
   1641.—14 yards of femble cloth, 12s. ; 8 yards of linen, 6s. 8d. ; 20 yards of harden, 10s. ; 5 linen sheets, 1l. ; 7 linen pillow bears, 8s. ; 2 femble sheets and a line hard sheet, 10s. ; 3 linen towels, 4s. ; 6 lin curtains and a vallance, 12s. ; […] 1858, Journal of the Statistical Society of London, page 409
   I give to my Grand Child Lidea Carpenter the Coverlid that her mother spun and my pillow bear and a pint Cup & my great Pott that belongs to the Pott and Trammels. 1905, Emily Wilder Leavitt, Palmer Groups: John Melvin of Charlestown and Concord, Mass. and His Descendants ; Gathered and Arranged for Mr. Lowell Mason Palmer of New York, page 24
   […] a man's eyes played him false, sitting him before tables proper with damask and pewter, leading him to fall into beds gracious with small and large feather beds for softness and pillowed luxuriously under pretty checked linen pillow bears. 1941, Minnie Hite Moody, Long Meadows, page 71