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Webster 1913 Edition

Brain

Brain

(brān)
,
Noun.
[OE.
brain
,
brein
, AS.
bragen
,
brægen
; akin to LG.
brägen
,
bregen
, D.
brein
, and perh. to Gr.
βρέγμα
,
βρεχμός
, the upper part of head, if β = φ. √95.]
1.
(Anat.)
The whitish mass of soft matter (the center of the nervous system, and the seat of consciousness and volition) which is inclosed in the cartilaginous or bony cranium of vertebrate animals. It is simply the anterior termination of the spinal cord, and is developed from three embryonic vesicles, whose cavities are connected with the central canal of the cord; the cavities of the vesicles become the central cavities, or ventricles, and the walls thicken unequally and become the three segments, the fore-, mid-, and hind-brain.
☞ In the brain of man the cerebral lobes, or largest part of the forebrain, are enormously developed so as to overhang the cerebellum, the great lobe of the hindbrain, and completely cover the lobes of the midbrain. The surface of the cerebrum is divided into irregular ridges, or convolutions, separated by grooves (the so-called fissures and sulci), and the two hemispheres are connected at the bottom of the longitudinal fissure by a great transverse band of nervous matter, the corpus callosum, while the two halves of the cerebellum are connected on the under side of the brain by the bridge, or pons Varolii.
2.
(Zool.)
The anterior or cephalic ganglion in insects and other invertebrates.
3.
The organ or seat of intellect; hence, the understanding;
as, use your
brains
.
“ My brain is too dull.”
Sir W. Scott.
☞ In this sense, often used in the plural.
4.
The affections; fancy; imagination.
[R.]
Shak.
To have on the brain
,
to have constantly in one’s thoughts, as a sort of monomania.
[Low]
–
no-brainer
a decision requiring little or no thought; an obvious choice.
[slang]
Brain box
or
Brain case
,
the bony or cartilaginous case inclosing the brain.
–
Brain coral
,
Brain stone coral
(Zool.)
,
a massive reef-building coral having the surface covered by ridges separated by furrows so as to resemble somewhat the surface of the brain, esp. such corals of the genera
Mæandrina
and
Diploria
.
–
Brain fag
(Med.)
,
brain weariness. See
Cerebropathy
.
–
Brain fever
(Med.)
,
fever in which the brain is specially affected; any acute cerebral affection attended by fever.
–
Brain sand
,
calcareous matter found in the pineal gland.

Brain

(brān)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Brained
(brānd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Braining
.]
1.
To dash out the brains of; to kill by beating out the brains.
Hence, Fig.:
To destroy; to put an end to; to defeat.
There thou mayst
brain
him.
Shakespeare
It was the swift celerity of the death . . .
That
brained
my purpose.
Shakespeare
2.
To conceive; to understand.
[Obs.]
'T is still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen
Tongue, and
brain
not.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition

Brain

BRAIN

,
Noun.
[Gr. properly the fore part of the head or sinciput, also the brain.]
1.
That soft whitish mass,or viscus,inclosed in the cranium or skull, in which the nerves and spinal marrow terminate, and which is supposed to be the seat of the soul or intelligent principle in man. It is divided above into a right and left hemisphere, and below into six lobes. It is composed of a cortical substance, which is external, and a medullary, which is internal. From the brain proceed nine pair of nerves, which are distributed principally to the head and neck.
2.
The understanding.
3.
The affections; fancy; imagination. [Unusual.]

BRAIN

,
Verb.
T.
To dash out the brains; to kill by beating out the brains.
1.
To conceive; to understand. [Not used.]

Definition 2024

brain

brain

English

A human brain

Noun

brain ‎(plural brains)

  1. The 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.
    • 2013 July 19, Ian Sample, “Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 6, page 34:
      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 than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.
  2. (informal) An intelligent person.
    He was a total brain.‎
    1. (Britain, plural only) A person who provides the intelligence required for something.
      He is the brains behind the scheme.‎
  3. (in the plural) Intellect.
    • 2008 Quaker Action (magazine) Rights trampled in rush to deport immigrant workers, Fall 2008, Vol. 89, No. 3, p. 8:
      "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.
    He has a lot of brains.‎
    1. (singular) An intellectual or mental capacity.
      Gerald always acts like he doesn't have a brain.‎
  4. By 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.‎
  5. (slang, vulgar) oral sex
    • 2012, Mack Maine featuring Turk and Mystikal, I'm On It
      You said I got brain from your dame in the range
      In the passing lane
      But you really ain't got no proof

Synonyms

  • harns
  • See also Wikisaurus:brain
  • See also Wikisaurus:genius

Derived terms

See also

Translations

Verb

brain ‎(third-person singular simple present brains, present participle braining, simple past and past participle brained)

  1. (transitive) To dash out the brains of; to kill by smashing the skull.
  2. (transitive, slang) To strike (someone) on the head.
  3. (transitive, figuratively) To destroy; to put an end to.
    • Shakespeare
      There thou mayst brain him.
    • Shakespeare
      It was the swift celerity of the death […] That brained my purpose.
  4. (transitive) To conceive in the mind; to understand.
    • Shakespeare
      'Tis still a dream, or else such stuff as madmen / Tongue, and brain not.

Quotations

  • For usage examples of this term, see Citations:brain.

Translations

Anagrams

Irish

Noun

brain m

  1. vocative singular of bran
  2. genitive singular of bran
  3. nominative plural of bran
  4. dative plural of bran

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
brain bhrain mbrain
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

References

Old Irish

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /branʲ/

Noun

brain m

  1. vocative singular of bran
  2. genitive singular of bran
  3. nominative plural of bran

Mutation

Old Irish mutation
Radical Lenition Nasalization
brain brain
pronounced with /v(ʲ)-/ 		mbrain
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Welsh

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /brai̯n/

Noun

brain m pl

  1. plural of brân

Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical soft nasal aspirate
brain frain mrain unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Etymology

From Middle English brain, from Old English bræġen ‎(“brain”), from Proto-Germanic *bragną ‎(“brain”), from Proto-Indo-European *mreghmno-, *mreghmo- ‎(“skull, brain”), from Proto-Indo-European *mregʰ- ‎(“marrow, sinciput”) + *men- ‎(“mind, to think”). Cognate with Scots braine, brane ‎(“brain”), North Frisian brayen, brein ‎(“brain”), Saterland Frisian Brainge ‎(“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”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɹeɪn/
  • Homophone: brane
  • Rhymes: -eɪn

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