# bear

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɛə/ · frequency rank #1,985

## Definitions
1. A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous), having shaggy fur, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of the family Ursidae.
2. A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous), having shaggy fur, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of the family Ursidae.
3. A rough, unmannerly, uncouth person.
4. An investor who sells commodities, securities, or futures in anticipation of a fall in prices.
5. A state policeman (short for Smokey Bear).
6. A large, hairy man, especially one who is homosexual.
7. A koala (bear).
8. A portable punching machine.
9. A block covered with coarse matting, used to scour the deck.
10. The fifteenth Lenormand card.
11. Something difficult or tiresome; a burden or chore.

## Etymology
From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Boar, Boare (“bear”), West Frisian bear (“bear”), Cimbrian, Mòcheno per (“bear”), Dutch beer (“bear”), German Bär (“bear”), German Low German Boor (“bear”), Limburgish baer, Béër (“bear”), Luxembourgish Bier (“bear”), Vilamovian baor, bar (“bear”), West Flemish beir (“bear”), Yiddish בער (ber, “bear”), Danish, Faroese, and Norwegian Bokmål bjørn (“bear”), Icelandic, Swedish björn (“bear”), Norwegian Nynorsk bjøinn, bjønn, bjørn (“bear”), Gothic *𐌱𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌰 (*baira, “bear”).
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.
On this theory, 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).

## Easily confused with
- **br** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-br)
- **bed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bed)
- **bet** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bet)
- **ben** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-ben)
- **bee** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bee)
- **beg** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-beg)
- **bra** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bra)
- **bel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bel)
- **bey** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bey)
- **boa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-boa)
- **bor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bor)
- **bla** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bla)
- **BSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bsa)
- **bev** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bev)
- **BPA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bpa)
- **bes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bes)
- **BFA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bfa)
- **ber** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-ber)
- **BIA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bia)
- **bur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bear-vs-bur)

## Common misspellings (5)
`baer`, `bbear`, `bearr`, `bera`, `ebar`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bear