Brute

Pronunciation

• enPR: broÍžot, IPA: /bɹuːt/
• Rhymes: -uːt

Origin

From Middle French brut, from Latin brūtus ("dull, stupid, insensible"), an Oscan loanword, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷréh₂us. Cognate with Ancient Greek βαρύς, Persian گران and Sanskrit गुरु (gurú).

Full definition of brute

Adjective

1. Without reason or intelligence (of animals). from 15th c.a brute beast
2. Characteristic of unthinking animals; senseless, unreasoning (of humans). from 16th c.
• MiltonA creature ... not prone
  And brute as other creatures, but endued
  With sanctity of reason.
3. Being unconnected with intelligence or thought; purely material, senseless. from 16th c.the brute earth; the brute powers of nature
4. Crude, unpolished. from 17th c.
• Sir Walter Scotta great brute farmer from Liddesdale
• 2006, Howard Richards, The Dilemmas of Social Democracies: Overcoming Obstacles to a More Just World, The related notion that some facts are relatively more brute than others hearkens back to the ancient metaphysics of Aristotle.
5. Strong, blunt, and spontaneous.I punched him with brute force.
6. Brutal; cruel; fierce; ferocious; savage; pitiless.brute violence

Noun

1. (now archaic) An animal seen as being without human reason; a senseless beast. from 17th c.
• 1714, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees:they laid before them how unbecoming it was the Dignity of such sublime Creatures to be sollicitous about gratifying those Appetites, which they had in common with Brutes, and at the same time unmindful of those higher qualities that gave them the preeminence over all visible Beings.
• 1946, Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, I.17:But if he lives badly, he will, in the next life, be a woman; if he (or she) persists in evil-doing, he (or she) will become a brute, and go on through transmigrations until at last reason conquers.
2. Someone with the characteristics of an unthinking animal; a coarse or brutal person. from 17th c.One of them was a hulking brute of a man, heavily tattooed and with a hardened face that practically screamed "I just got out of jail."
3. (archaic, slang, UK, Cambridge University) One who has not yet matriculated.

Derived terms

• brutal
• brutality
• brute force
• brutish

Verb

1. Obsolete spelling of bruit

Anagrams

• buret, rebut, tuber