brant meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

brant

noun

/bɹænt/

Etymology From New Latin/Medieval Latin Branta, latinized form of Old Norse brandgás (“sheldrake”), literally "burnt (black) goose," from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“burning”) + *gans (“goose”).

Canada, US Any of several wild geese, of the genus Branta, that breed in the Arctic, but especially the brent goose, Branta bernicla.

I have given you roe and reindeer, / I have given you brant and beaver, / Filled the marshes full of wild-fowl, / Filled the rivers full of fishes; / Why then are you not contented? / Why then will you hunt each other?1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Book I”, in The Song of Hiawatha:

Derived terms: brant-fox, brant goose, sea brant

brant

adj

Etymology From Middle English brant, from Old English brant (“high, steep”), from Proto-West Germanic *brant, from Proto-Germanic *brantaz (“steep, towering”). Cognate with Scots brent, Old Norse brantr, brattr (Faroese and Icelandic brattur, Danish brat, Norwegian Bokmål bratt, Swedish brant).

Dialectal steep, precipitous.

Grapes grow on the brant rocks so wonderfully that ye will marvel how any man dare climb up to them.1551, Roger Ascham, letter to Mr. Edward Raven:

Scotland smooth; unwrinkled

Your bonnie brow was brent.1828, Robert Burns, John Anderson: