# bream

Pronunciation: US say "BRIM" /bɹɪm/; UK say "BREEM" /bɹiːm/

## Noun

1. A European freshwater fish of the genus Abramis, in the carp family, with several species and little valued as food.
   - Simple: A freshwater fish from European rivers and lakes, not often eaten.
   - _A bream feeds along the riverbed, sucking up worms and insect larvae._
   - _Large shoals of bream drift through the deep, slow stretches of lowland rivers._
2. A saltwater fish of the genus Pagellus and related groups, found in coastal seas and widely caught for food.
   - Simple: A sea fish caught off many coasts and often cooked as food.
   - _A bream patrols the rocky reef, feeding on crustaceans and small shellfish._
   - _The market stalls were piled with bream landed that morning._
3. The common European freshwater bream, Abramis brama, a single deep-bodied species within the genus Abramis. *(British)*
   - Simple: One common kind of European freshwater bream, Abramis brama.
   - _She landed a record bream from the slow-moving stretch below the weir._
   - _Match anglers prize bream for the steady weight a good net brings._
4. A North American freshwater fish of the genus Lepomis and related groups, also called sunfish or pondfish.
   - Simple: A North American freshwater fish, also called a sunfish, that lives in ponds and lakes.
   - _He baited a cricket on the hook and pulled in a bream._
   - _Farm ponds across the state teem with bream through the summer._

## Verb

Pronunciation: say "BREEM" US /bɹim/, UK /bɹiːm/

5. To clean a ship's bottom by applying fire to burn off clinging shells and seaweed, then scraping it away.
   - Simple: To clean the bottom of a ship by burning off and scraping away seaweed and shells.
   - _Sailors would bream the hull every few months to keep the ship fast._
   - _They beached the vessel to bream her before crossing the ocean._

## Origin

From Middle English breme, from Old French breme (source of French brème), from Frankish *brahsma, going back through Proto-West Germanic and Proto-Germanic words for the fish. It perhaps traces to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "shining" and ultimately a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to shine."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bream (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).