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  • bran
    bran
    noun
    the partly ground husk of wheat or other grain, separated from flour meal by sifting.
  • Bran
    Bran
    noun
    a king of Britain and the brother of Manawydan and Branwen: his head was buried at London as a magical defense against invasion. He was sometimes regarded as a sea god or Christian saint.
Synonyms

bran

1 American  
[bran] / bræn /

noun

  1. the partly ground husk of wheat or other grain, separated from flour meal by sifting.


verb (used with object)

branned, branning
  1. to soak or boil in bran water, as in the tanning of hides.

Bran 2 American  
[bran] / bræn /

noun

  1. Welsh Legend. a king of Britain and the brother of Manawydan and Branwen: his head was buried at London as a magical defense against invasion. He was sometimes regarded as a sea god or Christian saint.

  2. a male given name, form of Brandon.


bran British  
/ bræn /

noun

  1. husks of cereal grain separated from the flour by sifting

  2. food prepared from these husks

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of bran

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French bran, bren, of uncertain origin

Explanation

The outside layer of a grain like wheat or rice is called bran. If you need some fiber, avoid the chocolate chip muffin and opt for the bran muffin instead. Most of wheat's nutrients are in its bran and germ, which are parts of an unprocessed cereal grain. When wheat is processed into white flour, the bran is removed. That's too bad since there are B vitamins, protein, iron, and important fatty acids in bran (all of which is stripped away when grain is milled or refined). White rice, for example, is rice with the bran and germ removed, while a grain of brown rice still contains both. In the sixteenth century, bran also meant "dandruff flakes." Yum!

Keep Reading on Vocabulary.com

Vocabulary lists containing bran

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"When making tools for chemists, the user interface matters a lot, and previous tools relied on cumbersome filters and rules," says Andres M Bran, the first author of the Synthegy paper published in Matter.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

At 94, "Star Trek" legend William Shatner chews the scenery in a Raisin Bran ad that leans into fiber jokes, introducing himself as a character named "Will Shat."

From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026

And a regional Super Bowl commercial from Kellogg’s Raisin Bran is set to underline the importance of dietary fiber.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

The service believes he left that morning from Poiana Brașov heading to Bran, the site of Count Dracula's castle.

From BBC • Dec. 2, 2025

I figured that I would be telling Bran about my conversation with Morris and how Morris had admitted that Branwell had seen him in the bathroom that day.

From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg