bruin

American  

[broo-in] / ˈbru ɪn /

noun

1. a bear, especially a European brown bear.

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bruin British  

/ ˈbruːɪn /

noun

1. a name for a bear, used in children's tales, fables, etc

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Etymology

Origin of bruin

1475–85; < Middle Dutch bruyn, bruun literally, the brown one, name of the bear in the fable of Reynard the Fox

Example Sentences

Animal control officers from Pasadena Humane confirmed that a bear was living under an Altadena house Sunday but could not be sure if the latest bear squatter was the same bruin from the earlier incident.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 13, 2026

Dubbed “BB14,” this plump bruin and her three cubs have settled behind mansions, interrupted a Mahjong tournament, shut down streets, attracted a TV helicopter and snatched koi out of a man-made pond.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025

Owen Beierman, 12, took aim at the bruin as it pinned down his dad while they were on a legal hunting trip.

From BBC • Sep. 19, 2024

The bruin showed up around lunchtime in a residential area of Camp Hill, outside the capital of Harrisburg.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 4, 2024

We began to fear that the foot would come off and bruin relieved of the trap would escape after all.

From Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper Autobiography, experiences and observations of Eldred Nathaniel Woodcock during his fifty years of hunting and trapping. by Woodcock, Eldred Nathaniel