brain
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English, from Old English bræġen (“brain”), from Proto-Germanic *bragnan (“brain”), from Proto-Indo-European *mreghmno- (“skull, brain”), from Proto-Indo-European *mreK- (“marrow, sinciput”). Cognate with Scots braine, brane (“brain”), West Frisian brein (“brain”), Dutch brein (“brain”), Low German Brägen (“brain”), Ancient Greek βρεχμος (brechmos, “front part of the skull, top of the head”).
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
Wikipedia brain (plural brains)
- 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.
- An intelligent person.
- He was a total brain.
- (English pluralia tantum) A person who provides the intelligence required for something.
- He is the brains behind the scheme.
- (in the plural) Intellect.
- He has a lot of brains.
- 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.
- 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.
[edit] Synonyms
- harns
- See also Wikisaurus:brain
- See also Wikisaurus:genius
[edit] Derived terms
[edit] See also
- (brain lobes) brain lobe; frontal lobe, occipital lobe, parietal lobe, temporal lobe (Category: en:Brain) [edit]
[edit] Translations
organ
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intelligent person
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person providing intelligence
brains: intellect
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part of computer
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
[edit] Derived terms
terms derived from brain (noun)
[edit] Verb
brain (third-person singular simple present brains, present participle braining, simple past and past participle brained)
- (slang, transitive) To strike (someone) on the head.
- (transitive) To kill (a person) by smashing that person's skull.
[edit] Quotations
- For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.
[edit] Translations
to strike on the head
to kill a person by smashing the skull