Brainpan

Pronunciation

• UK IPA: /ˈbɹeɪnpan/

Alternative forms

• brain-pan
• braynepan 16th c.

Origin

Old English bragenpanne, corresponding to brain + pan.

Full definition of brainpan

Noun

1. (now chiefly North American, colloquial) The skull. from 10th c.
• c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part 2, First Folio 1623, IV.9:Many a time but for a Sallet, my braine-pan had bene cleft with a brown Bill.
• 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.6:Yet, whether thwart or flatly it did lyte,
  The tempred steele did not into his braynepan byte.
2. (now chiefly North American, colloquial) The brain or mind. from 17th c.
• 1822, Walter Scott, The Fortunes of Nigel:‘And a hard word it is,’ said Richie, ‘as my brainpan kens to this blessed moment.’