brim

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English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English, from Old English brim, brym, brymm (“surf, flood, wave, sea, ocean, water, sea-edge, shore”), from Old English *brimman, bremman (“to rage, roar”), from Proto-Germanic *bremmaną, *bremaną (“to roar”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerem-, *bʰrem(e)-, *breme- (“to hum, make a noise”). Cognate with Icelandic brim (“sea, surf”), Dutch brommen (“to hum, buzz”), German brummen (“to hum, drone”), Latin fremō (“roar, growl”, verb), Ancient Greek βρέμω (brémou, “roar, roar like the ocean”, verb).

Noun[edit]

brim (plural brims)

  1. (obsolete) The sea; ocean; water; flood.
Derived terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Middle English brim, brem, brimme (“margin, edge of a river, lake, or sea”), probably from Middle English brim (“sea, ocean, surf, shore”). See above. Cognate with Dutch berm (“bank, riverbank”), Bavarian Bräm (“border, stripe”), German Bräme, Brame (“border, edge”), Danish bræmme (“border, edge, brim”), Swedish bräm (“border, edge”), Icelandic barmur (“edge, verge, brink”). Related to berm.

Noun[edit]

brim (plural brims)

  1. An edge or border (originally specifically of the sea or a body of water).
    • Bible, Josh. iii. 15
      The feet of the priest that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water.
  2. The topmost rim or lip of a container.
    The toy box was filled to the brim with stuffed animals.
    • Coleridge:
      Saw I that insect on this goblet's brim / I would remove it with an anxious pity.
  3. A projecting rim, especially of a hat.
    He turned the back of his brim up stylishly.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Wordsworth to this entry?)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
an edge or border (originally specifically of the sea or a body of water)
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.
Translations to be checked

Verb[edit]

brim (third-person singular simple present brims, present participle brimming, simple past and past participle brimmed)

  1. To be full to overflowing.
    The room brimmed with people.
    • 2006 New York Times
      It was a hint of life in a place that still brims with memories of death, a reminder that even five years later, the attacks are not so very distant.
    • 2011 July 3, Piers Newbury, “Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in final”, BBC Sport:
      Djokovic, brimming with energy and confidence, needed little encouragement and came haring in to chase down a drop shot in the next game, angling away the backhand to break before turning to his supporters to celebrate.
  2. (transitive) To fill to the brim, upper edge, or top.
    • Tennyson:
      Arrange the board and brim the glass.
Translations[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

Either from breme, or directly from Old English bremman (“to roar, rage”) (though not attested in Middle English).

Verb[edit]

brim (third-person singular simple present brims, present participle brimming, simple past and past participle brimmed)

  1. Of pigs: to be in heat, to rut.

Etymology 4[edit]

See breme.

Adjective[edit]

brim (comparative more brim, superlative most brim)

  1. (obsolete) Fierce; sharp; cold.

Anagrams[edit]

Old English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

brim n

  1. (poetic) the edge of the sea or a body of water
  2. (poetic) surf; the surface of the sea
  3. (poetic) sea, ocean, water

Declension[edit]

Declension of brim (strong a-stem)
Singular Plural
nominative brim brimu
accusative brim brimu
genitive brimes brima
dative brime brimum

Derived terms[edit]

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