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bream

¹

[brim, breem]

|

noun, plural (especially collectively) bream, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) breams.

any of various freshwater fishes of the genus Abramis, as A. brama, of Europe, with a compressed, deep body and silvery scales.

any of various related and similar fishes.

any of several porgies, as the sea bream, Archosargus rhomboidalis.

any of several freshwater sunfishes of the genus Lepomis.

Origin of bream

¹

1350–1400; Middle English breme < Anglo-French; Old French bresme, braisme < Old Low Franconian *brahsima; compare Old High German brahsema, Dutch brasem

bream

²

[breem]

verb (used with object) Nautical.

to clean (a ship's bottom) by applying burning furze, reeds, etc., to soften the pitch and loosen adherent matter.

Origin of bream

²

1620–30; < Middle Dutch brem(e) furze

Bream

[breem]

noun

Julian (Alexander),born 1933, English guitarist and lutenist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bream

Contemporary Examples of bream

We have in multiple requests,” Bream answered meekly, “and when it comes in, we'll let you know.
Fox News' Man of Reason
Lloyd Grove
October 30, 2009

Historical Examples of bream

He clung to a hope that Bream Mortimer at least would receive him fittingly.
The Girl on the Boat
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
Coming suddenly out of the night it affected Bream painfully.
The Girl on the Boat
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
Bream's bedroom, he knew, was the one just off the next landing.
The Girl on the Boat
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
I am engaged to Bream Mortimer, and I love him and nobody else in the world!
The Girl on the Boat
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
"He won't have forgotten you," said Bream Mortimer, confidently.
The Girl on the Boat
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

British Dictionary definitions for bream

bream

¹

Australian brim (brɪm)

noun plural bream or brim

any of several Eurasian freshwater cyprinid fishes of the genus Abramis, esp A. brama, having a deep compressed body covered with silvery scales

white bream or silver bream a similar cyprinid, Blicca bjoerkna

short for sea bream

Australian any of various marine fishes

Word Origin for bream

C14: from Old French bresme, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German brahsema; perhaps related to brehan to glitter

bream

²

verb

nautical (formerly) to clean debris from (the bottom of a vessel) by heating to soften the pitch

Word Origin for bream

C15: probably from Middle Dutch bremme broom; from using burning broom as a source of heat

Bream

noun

Julian (Alexander). born 1933, English guitarist and lutenist

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

Word Origin and History for bream

n.

freshwater fish, late 14c., from Old French braisme "bream," from Frankish *brahsima, from West Germanic *brahsm- (cf. Old High German brahsima), perhaps from Proto-Germanic base *brehwan "to shine, glitter, sparkle," from PIE *bherek- (see braid (v.)).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper