bren

B3R1E1N1
/bɹɛn/

verb

To burn (to set ablaze).

Similar
Bren gun
OriginMiddle English brennen ← Old Norse brenna ← Proto-Germanic *brinnaną →
Less commonScrabble 6
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Meanings

bren1

verbbren (third-person singular simple present brens, present participle brenning, simple past brenned, past participle brenned or brent)

present singular third person brens · participle present brenning · past brenned · participle past brenned · participle past brent

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo burn (to set ablaze).

    And the greene grasse that groweth they shall bren, That even the wilde beast shall dy in starved den

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC

Bren2

proper nounBren (plural Brens)

plural Brens

  1. A surname from Czech.

Bren3

proper noun
  1. A female given name, clipping of Brenda.
  2. A male given name, clipping of Brendan.

Bren4

nounBren (plural Brens)

plural Brens

  1. abbreviationellipsisEllipsis of Bren gun.

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna submachine gun operated by gas pressure; used by the British in World War II

Similar
Bren gun
Broader
submachine gun
Also see
bren gunbritish english

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

bren · verb

  1. Proto-Germanic*brinnaną“to set on fire”
  2. Old Norsebrenna
  3. Middle Englishbrennen
  4. Englishbren

From Middle English brennen, from Old Norse brenna, brinna, from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną (“to set on fire”). Cognate with German brennen, Swedish bränna. Doublet of burn; see there for more.

More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Bren · proper noun

  1. CzechBřeň
  2. EnglishBren

Borrowed from Czech Břeň.

More words from Czech

Full word history & related roots →

Bren · noun

See Bren gun.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with bren

whenbeenthannthenevenwomenmenagainenuntenbenkenpendengenPennglenynGlennzenyensen
All rhymes →

Anagrams

Bern
Cite this entry
APA

bren. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bren

MLA

“bren.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bren. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bren,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bren.

Source: bren on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.