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bream¹

(brēm, brĭm)

n. pl. bream or breams

1. Any of various freshwater cyprinid fishes, especially Abramis brama of Eurasia, having a compressed silvery body.

2. A similar fish, especially:

a. Any of various marine fishes of the family Sparidae, such as a porgy or a sea bream.

b. Any of various freshwater sunfishes of the family Centrarchidae, such as the bluegill.

[Middle English breme, from Old French, of Germanic origin.]

bream²

(brēm)

tr.v. breamed, bream·ing, breams
Nautical

To clean (a wooden ship's hull) by applying heat to soften the pitch and then scraping.

[From Middle Dutch brem(e), furze, broom.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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