/bɹeɪn/
OriginFrom Middle English brayn, brain, from Old English bræġn (“brain”), from Proto-West Germanic *bragn, from Proto-Germanic *bragną (“brain”), from Proto-Indo-European *mregʰnom (“skull, brain”), from Proto-Indo-European *mregʰ- (“marrow, sinciput”) + *-mn̥ (“nominal suffix”).
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”).
- countable, uncountableThe control center of the central nervous system of an animal located in the skull 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 fr”
“The brain of a calf, sheep, and pig, young and served fresh, is reputedly erotic in its effects.”
“Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more ”
- countable, uncountableA 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.”
“What is expressed in the lotus, the plumed serpent, or the staff of Osiris is the yogi's knowledge of the three brains of man. The first brain is the reptilian brain of the spinal cord, the brain of i”
- countable, informal, uncountableMind.
“I have too much on my brain today.”
“And I should tell him all my pain, / And how my life had droop’d of late, / And he should sorrow o’er my state / And marvel what possess’d my brain; […]”
- countable, in-plural, uncountableIntellect.
“"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.”
“She has a lot of brains.”
- countable, informal, uncountableAn intelligent person.
“She was a total brain.”
“Peebee: The brains and I are comparing Remnant notes and filling in the blanks.”
- countable, informal, plural, plural-only, uncountableA person who provides the intelligence required for something.
“He is the brains behind the scheme.”
- countable, informal, singular, uncountableAn intellectual or mental capacity.
“Gerald always acts like he doesn't have a brain.”
- countable, uncountableBy 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.”
- countable, uncountableA loose compartment of a backpack that straps on over the top opening.
- transitiveTo dash out the brains of; to kill by smashing the skull.
- transitiveTo 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”
- figuratively, transitiveTo destroy; to put an end to.
“There thou maiſt braine him,”
“It was the ſwift celeritie of his death / […] That brain'd my purpoſe:”
“He was going on with some wild reminiscences about his tomahawk-pipe, which, it seemed, had in its two uses both brained his foes and soothed his soul, when we were directly attracted to the sleeping ”
- obsolete, transitiveTo conceive in the mind; to understand.
“'Tis still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen / Tongue, and brain not.”
- humorous, intransitive, nonstandardTo think effectively.
“My brain isn't braining right now.”
Formsbrains(plural) · brayne(alternative) · brains(present, singular, third-person) · braining(participle, present) · brained(participle, past) · brained(past) · Brains(plural)