The expression “coffee break” was first attested in 1952 in glossy magazine advertisements by the Pan-American Coffee Bureau.
BRUTE
beastly, bestial, brute, brutish, brutal
(adjective) resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility; “beastly desires”; “a bestial nature”; “brute force”; “a dull and brutish man”; “bestial treatment of prisoners”
animal, animate being, beast, brute, creature, fauna
(noun) a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
beast, wolf, savage, brute, wildcat
(noun) a cruelly rapacious person
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Adjective
brute (comparative more brute, superlative most brute)
Without reason or intelligence (of animals). [from 15th c.]
Characteristic of unthinking animals; senseless, unreasoning (of humans). [from 16th c.]
Being unconnected with intelligence or thought; purely material, senseless. [from 16th c.]
Crude, unpolished. [from 17th c.]
Strong, blunt, and spontaneous.
Brutal; cruel; fierce; ferocious; savage; pitiless.
Noun
brute (plural brutes)
(archaic) An animal seen as being without human reason; a senseless beast. [from 17th c.]
A person with the characteristics of an unthinking animal; a coarse or brutal person. [from 17th c.]
(archaic, UK, Cambridge University slang) One who has not yet matriculated.
Verb
brute (third-person singular simple present brutes, present participle bruting, simple past and past participle bruted)
(transitive) To shape (diamonds) by grinding them against each other.
Etymology 2
Verb
brute (third-person singular simple present brutes, present participle bruting, simple past and past participle bruted)
Obsolete spelling of bruit.
Anagrams
• Ubert, buret, rebut, tuber
Source: Wiktionary
Brute, a. Etym: [F. brut, nasc., brute, fem., raw, rough, rude, brutish, L. brutus stupid, irrational: cf. It. & Sp. bruto.]
1. Not having sensation; senseless; inanimate; unconscious; without intelligence or volition; as, the brute earth; the brute powers of nature.
2. Not possessing reason, irrational; unthinking; as, a brute beast; the brute creation. A creature . . . not prone And brute as other creatures, but endued With sanctity of reason. Milton.
3. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of, a brute beast. Hence: Brutal; cruel; fierce; ferocious; savage; pitiless; as, brute violence. Macaulay. The influence of capital and mere brute labor. Playfair.
4. Having the physical powers predominating over the mental; coarse; unpolished; unintelligent. A great brute farmer from Liddesdale. Sir W. Scott.
5. Rough; uncivilized; unfeeling. [R.]
Brute, n.
1. An animal destitute of human reason; any animal not human; esp. a quadruped; a beast. Brutes may be considered as either aëral, terrestrial, aquatic, or amphibious. Locke.
2. A brutal person; a savage in heart or manners; as unfeeling or coarse person. An ill-natured brute of a husband. Franklin.
Syn.
– See Beast.
Brute, v. t. Etym: [For bruit.]
Definition: To report; to bruit. [Obs.]
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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29 May 2025
CRITICAL
(adjective) characterized by careful evaluation and judgment; “a critical reading”; “a critical dissertation”; “a critical analysis of Melville’s writings”
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