bran

From Middle English bran, branne, bren, from Old French bren, bran (“bran, filth”), from Gaulish brennos (“rotten”), from Proto-Celtic *bragnos (“rotten, foul”) (compare Welsh braen (“stench”), Irish bréan (“rancid”), Walloon brin (“excrement”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreHg- (compare Latin fragrāre (“to smell strongly”), Dutch brak (“hound”)).

• (Received Pronunciation, US) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹæn/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æn

bran (countable and uncountable, plural brans)

1. The broken coat of the seed of wheat, rye, or other cereal grain, separated from the flour or meal by sifting or bolting; the coarse, chaffy part of ground grain.

bran (third-person singular simple present brans, present participle branning, simple past and past participle branned)

1. (transitive) To clean (metal) using a branner.

From a Celtic source; compare Welsh brân and Cornish bran.

bran (plural brans)

1. (ornithology) The European carrion crow.

• bran on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• Barn, NRAB, barn, N-bar

From Proto-Brythonic *bran, from Proto-Celtic *branos, from Proto-Indo-European *werneh₂- (“crow”).

Compare Tocharian B wrauña, Lithuanian várna.

bran f (plural brini)

1. crow, raven

• frav

From Vulgar Latin *brandus, from Frankish *brand.

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈbɾan]

bran m (plural brans)

1. broadsword

• brandar

• “bran”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “bran”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “bran” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “bran” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

From Proto-Brythonic *bran, from Proto-Celtic *branos, from Proto-Indo-European *werneh₂- (“crow”). Cognate with Welsh brân.

Compare Tocharian B wrauña, Lithuanian várna, Slovene vrana.

• IPA^(key): [bɹæːn]

bran m (plural brini)

1. crow

• IPA^(key): [ˈbran]

bran f

1. genitive plural of brána

bran f

1. genitive plural of brány

From Old Irish bran, from Primitive Irish ᚁᚏᚐᚅᚔ (brani), from Proto-Celtic *branos, from Proto-Indo-European *werneh₂- (“crow”) (compare Tocharian B wrauña, Lithuanian várna, Slovene vrana.)

bran m (genitive singular brain, nominative plural brain)

1. (literary) raven

   Synonym: fiach

• branán m (“raven; a principal piece in ancient board-game set; prince”)

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

bran m (genitive singular brain, nominative plural brain)

1. bream (Abramis brama)

   Synonyms: bréan, deargán

bran m (genitive singular bran)

1. clipping of bran (mór) (“bran”)
2. clipping of bran beag (“pollard”)

From English bran.

bran m (genitive singular bran)

1. bran

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “bran”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 bran (‘raven’)”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “bran”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• “bran”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013–2025

• branne, bren

From Old French bren, from Gaulish *brennos (“rotten”), from Proto-Celtic *bragnos (“foul, rotten”).

• IPA^(key): /bran/, /brɛn/, /braːn/

bran

1. The ground husk of wheat

• English: bran
• Yola: bran

• “brā̆n, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

bran oblique singular, m (oblique plural brans, nominative singular brans, nominative plural bran)

1. alternative form of branc

From Primitive Irish ᚁᚏᚐᚅᚔ (brani), from Proto-Celtic *branos (“raven”), from Proto-Indo-European *werneh₂- (“crow”) (compare Tocharian B wrauña, Lithuanian várna).

• IPA^(key): /bran/

bran m (genitive brain or broin, nominative plural brain or broin)

1. raven

   Synonyms: fiach, trogan

• Irish: bran
• Scottish Gaelic: bran

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 bran”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

From Proto-Slavic *bornь. Cognate with Polish broń.

• IPA^(key): /bráːn/

brȃn f

1. defense

The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.

Feminine, i-stem, long mixed accent
nom. sing.	brán
gen. sing.	braní
	singular	dual	plural
nominative (imenovȃlnik)	brán	braní	braní
genitive (rodȋlnik)	braní	braní	braní
dative (dajȃlnik)	bráni	branéma	braném
accusative (tožȋlnik)	brán	braní	braní
locative (mẹ̑stnik)	bráni	branéh	branéh
instrumental (orọ̑dnik)	branjó	branéma	branmí

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

bran

1. genitive dual/plural of brana

• “bran”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU (in Slovene), 2014–2025

Borrowed from English bran.

bran m (uncountable)

1. bran (broken coat of the seed of wheat, rye, or other cereal grain), husks

• bran gwenith (“wheat-bran”)

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “bran”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

From Middle English bran, from Old French bran, bren, from Gaulish brennos.

• IPA^(key): /bran/

bran

1. bran
   • 1867, “THE WEDDEEN O BALLYMORE”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, page 93:

     Aar was a gooude puddeen maate o bran.

     There was a good pudding made of bran.

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 93