| 释义 |
† berne Obs.
Forms: 1 biorn, 1–3 beorn, 3–6 bern(e, burn(e. Also 3 bearn, 3–4 bieren, 4 beern(e, berene, biern(e, byern(e, buirn, buyrn(e, beurn, bourne, borne, 4–5 beryn, buern(e, barn(e, 5 byrne, birn(e, buirn(e.
[OE. beorn, earlier biorn (:—*bern) ‘warrior, hero, man of valour,’ hence ‘man’ pre-eminently, vir, ἀνήρ; a word exclusively poetical; of disputed origin. The ME. forms were very varied; the most common midland type in 14th c. was burn(e; after 1400 the word was retained chiefly in the north, where it was a favourite term of alliterative poetry; in the form berne it survived in Scotch till after 1550. In some of its spellings it was occasionally confounded with forms of bairn, and baron; with the latter it was often actually interchanged: see quots. 1205, 1300.
Phonetically, OE. beorn ‘man of valour’ answers exactly to ON. bjǫrn, gen. bjarnar, ‘bear’(:—OTeut. bernu-z, the Celtic representative of which Prof. Rhys sees in the Gaulish proper name Brennus); but the ON. word has never the sense of ‘warrior,’ while the OE. has never that of ‘bear.’ To this, however, a striking analogy is offered by the case of OE. eofor, ON. jǫfurr (:—OTeut. eƀuro-z = L. aper), which has in Old English only the sense of ‘wild boar,’ in ON. only that of ‘warrior, hero.’ The use of the name of a fierce animal as a fig. appellation for ‘warrior, brave,’ seems very natural, and the fact that OE. beorn belonged only to the language of poetry and is never found in prose, suggests that it was a word of which the literal sense was lost, and only a figurative one traditionally retained. Nevertheless some eminent Teutonic scholars doubt the identification. Some have considered the word to be an early variant of bearn, bairn, or at least a cognate derivative of beran to bear. Mr. H. Bradley has suggested the possibility of connecting it with the British root of Beornice Bernicia, Welsh bryneich, and of Welsh brenhin king; but the nature of the connexion is not apparent.]
A warrior, a hero, a man of valour; in later use, simply one of the many poetic words for ‘man.’
Beowulf 5111 Biorn under beorᵹe bordrand onswaf. 937Batt. Brunanburh in O.E. Chron., Gelpan ne þorfte beorn blanden-feax. c1205Lay. 16923 æuerælche eorle & æuerælche beorne [1250 euch eorl and barun]. a1300Cursor M. 7 Brut, þat bern [v.r. berne, baroun] bald of hand, Þe first conquerour of Ingland. a1300E.E. Psalter cxxxix. [xl] 2 Fra ivel man; Fra wike bieren outake me on-an. c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 616 Where wystez þou euer any bourne abate. Ibid. B. 80 Boþe burnez & burdez, þe better and þe wers. Ibid. C. 302 Ay sykerly he herde Þe bygge borne on his bak. Ibid. C. 340 He brakez vp þe buyrne, as bede hym oure lorde. c1350Will. Palerne 1708 Þer as burnes were busy bestes to hulde. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xi. 353 So heighe þere noither buirn [v.r. burn, barne, barn] ne beste may her briddes rechen. a1400Morte Arth. 1391 Than a ryche mane of Rome relyede to his byerns. c1400Destr. Troy vii. 2887 Ffairest be ferre of his fre buernes. c1400Roland 237 He bad no bern be so bold upon mold. c1400Rowland & Ot. 1416 Thay brittenede many a beryn. c1420Anturs of Arth. x, Then this byrne braydet owte a brand, and the body bidus. Ibid. xiv, Quen birdus and birnys ar besy thè aboute. c1465Chevy Chase lviii, A bolder barne was never born. c1470Henry Wallace iv. 310 A squire come, and with him bernys four. 1515Scot. Field 400 in Chetham Misc. II, There was never burne borne, that day bare him better. 1528Lyndesay Dreme 919 We saw a boustius berne cum ouir ye bent. |