What does bear mean?
Bear is one of English's most versatile words, serving as both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it names the large, powerful, thick-furred mammal of the family Ursidae — animals such as the grizzly, polar bear, and black bear — and, informally, a gruff or ill-tempered person. As a verb, bear means to carry or support a weight, as in 'the pillars bear the roof,' and to endure hardship or pain, as in 'she bore the loss with dignity.' It also covers producing or bringing forth, from bearing children to plans that bear fruit. The verb is irregular, with the past tense 'bore' and past participle 'borne.' Common idioms include 'bear in mind,' 'bear the brunt,' and 'grin and bear it.' Because it is so frequent and flexible, mastering bear — and distinguishing it from its homophone 'bare' — is essential to fluent English.
A large, heavy mammal with thick fur, a short tail, and a stocky build, belonging to the family Ursidae; also, informally, a gruff or bad-tempered person.
"We watched a grizzly bear fishing for salmon in the river."
In finance, a 'bear' is an investor who expects prices to decline, contrasting with a 'bull'.
To carry, support, or hold up; to endure or tolerate; to give birth to or bring forth.
"He could not bear to watch the final minutes of the match."
Irregular conjugation: past tense 'bore', past participle 'borne' ('born' when referring to giving birth).
Standard regular plural. Note that 'Bears' is also capitalized as a team name (e.g., the Chicago Bears).
"Bears hibernate through the winter in dens across the northern forests."
The word 'bear' may trace back to an ancient taboo: some scholars believe early Germanic peoples avoided saying the animal's true name, coining a euphemism that literally meant 'the brown one.'
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bear
The noun 'bear' comes from Old English 'bera', which has cognates in other Germanic languages such as Old Norse 'björn'. A widely discussed theory holds that the Germanic words derive from an Indo-European root meaning 'brown', possibly because speakers avoided uttering the animal's true name. The verb 'bear' descends from Old English 'beran', from the Proto-Germanic '*beraną', ultimately from the Indo-European root '*bher-', meaning 'to carry'; this same root gave rise to 'birth', 'burden', and Latin 'ferre', the source of words like 'transfer' and 'fertile'.
Related word forms
How bear is actually used
The verb 'bear' is irregular: past tense 'bore', past participle 'borne' (or 'born' when referring to birth). In the sense of enduring, it is somewhat formal; in casual speech people often say 'stand' or 'take' instead. The phrase 'bear with me' is frequently misspelled as 'bare with me.'
Easily confused with bear
'Bare' means uncovered or naked, while 'bear' is the animal or the verb meaning to carry or endure; the two are often mixed up in phrases like 'bear with me' versus 'bare with me'.