briar

See also: Briar

English

Alternative forms

• brier, breer (Scotland)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɹaɪə/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹaɪɚ/
• Rhymes: -aɪə(ɹ)

Etymology 1

A sweet briar (Rosa rubiginosa, syn. Rosa eglanteria). Mudgee, New South Wales.

From Middle English brere, from Old English brēr, brǣr (“briar; bramble”). Compare Icelandic brörr (“briar”).

Noun

briar (plural briars)

1. Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera.
   • 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “May. Aegloga Quinta.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, →OCLC:

     Youngthes folke now flocken in every where,
     To gather May-buskets and smelling brere

2. (figurative) Anything sharp or unpleasant to the feelings.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 2:6:

     ¶ And thou ſonne of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their wordes, though bryars and thornes be with thee, and thou doeſt dwell among ſcorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be diſmayed at their lookes, though they be a rebellious houſe.

   • 1785, William Cowper, The Task‎^[1]:

     Rov'd far, and gather'd much : some harsh, 't is true, / Pick'd from the thorns and briers of reproof, / But wholesome, well-digested; […]

Derived terms

• briar-patch
• briary
• grin like a mule eating briars
• smile like a mule eating briars
• sweetbriar

Translations

any thorny plant — see thornbush

Etymology 2

A briar pipe (2)

From French bruyère, assimilated with Etymology 1, above.

Noun

briar (plural briars)

1. White heath (Erica arborea), a thorny Mediterranean shrub.
2. A pipe for smoking, made from the roots of that shrub.

Derived terms

• briar-pipe
• briar-root

Translations

white heath

• Czech: vřesovec stromovitý
• Dutch: boomhei (nl) f
• Finnish: puukanerva, puukellokanerva
• French: bruyère (fr) f
• Scottish Gaelic: dris f
• Swedish: trädljung c

pipe

• Czech: bryerka f
• French: pipe en bruyère f

Further reading

• thicket on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Erica arborea on Wikispecies.Wikispecies

Anagrams

• Ribar, birra