bran

noun

ˈbran 

: the edible broken seed coats of cereal grain separated from the flour or meal by sifting or bolting

Examples of bran in a Sentence

The doctor told me to eat more bran because it is a good source of fiber.

Recent Examples on the Web

Mom’s sticky pecan rolls are the stuff of legends and have made dozens of holiday mornings sweeter, and her bran muffins were a staple in my brown bag lunches throughout grade school. —Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 26 Feb. 2026

By washing white rice, the excess starch is washed off, as well as any oxidized rice bran oil coating the outside, which can add an unpleasant flavor to the cooked rice. —Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 21 Feb. 2026

That nourishment comes courtesy of fatty acid–rich rice bran extract and allantoin, the latter of which also works to repair the skin barrier to stave off sensitivity. —Emily Orofino, Vogue, 19 Feb. 2026

Refined grains have been processed to remove the bran (the fiber-rich outer layer) and germ (the sprout). —Brianna Tobritzhofer, Health, 9 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English bran, bren, bryne, borrowed from Anglo-French bren, brin, bran (continental Old French brent, bran), going back to Gallo-Romance *brenno- (whence also Old Occitan bren "bran"), probably of pre-Roman substratal origin

Note: The etymon *brenno- is attested in most of the Gallo-Romance speech area, as well as in Catalan (14th-century breny) and Aragonese; older Spanish and Portuguese bren are most likely loans from Gallo-Romance. The word also exists in Romansh (Surselvan dialect bren "groats," Vallader dialect "bran") and in dialects of Upper Italian. Evidence for a feminine variant *brenna- is found mainly in central and southern Italian dialects (see Lessico etimologico italiano). The earliest form known is feminine, brinna in the Formulae imperiales of Louis the Pious (9th century), where bran is mentioned as food for dogs. In Middle French bran begins to appear in the sense "excrement, shit," which at least regionally may have led to replacement of bran in the sense "bran" by son (going back to Latin secundus "second," bran being a product of a second sifting of the flour). — A Celtic origin has been suggested for *brenno-, though Welsh brann, bran "bran" and Breton brenn are more likely loanwords from English and French, respectively.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bran

• an
• ban
• can
• cann
• clan
• duan
• fan
• flan
• gran
• jann
• klan
• lan

Kids Definition

bran

noun

ˈbran 

: the edible broken coat of the seed of a cereal grain left after the grain has been ground and the flour or meal sifted out

Medical Definition

bran

noun

ˈbran 

: the edible broken seed coats of cereal grain separated from the flour or meal by sifting or bolting