brian

Meaning

Verb

• To keep fire at the mouth of (as of an oven), to give light or to preserve heat.

Origin

• From dialectal English, probably variant of brine, from brine, from Middle English brune, from Old English bryne, from Proto-Germanic *bruniz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenu-. Cognate with Scots brin, Scots brin, bryne, Old Norse bruni. More at burn.