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bream1

[brim, breem]
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noun, plural (especially collectively) bream, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) breams.
  1. any of various freshwater fishes of the genus Abramis, as A. brama, of Europe, with a compressed, deep body and silvery scales.
  2. any of various related and similar fishes.
  3. any of several porgies, as the sea bream, Archosargus rhomboidalis.
  4. any of several freshwater sunfishes of the genus Lepomis.
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Origin of bream1

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

bream2

[breem]
verb (used with object) Nautical.
  1. to clean (a ship's bottom) by applying burning furze, reeds, etc., to soften the pitch and loosen adherent matter.
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Origin of bream2

1620–30; < Middle Dutch brem(e) furze

Bream

[breem]
noun
  1. Julian (Alexander),born 1933, English guitarist and lutenist.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bream

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • 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

bream1

Australian brim (brɪm)

noun plural bream or brim
  1. any of several Eurasian freshwater cyprinid fishes of the genus Abramis, esp A. brama, having a deep compressed body covered with silvery scales
  2. white bream or silver bream a similar cyprinid, Blicca bjoerkna
  3. short for sea bream
  4. Australian any of various marine fishes
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Word Origin

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

bream2

verb
  1. nautical (formerly) to clean debris from (the bottom of a vessel) by heating to soften the pitch
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Word Origin

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

Bream

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

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper