briar

noun (1)

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bri·ar | \ ˈbrī(-ə)r

variants: or less commonly brier

Definition of briar

(Entry 1 of 2)

botany : a plant (such as a rose, blackberry, or greenbrier) having a usually woody and thorny or prickly stem a thicket of briars a briar patch also : a mass or twig of these

briar

noun (2)

Definition of briar (Entry 2 of 2)

: a tobacco pipe made from the root or stem of a European heath (Erica arborea)

History and Etymology for briar

Noun (1)

Middle English brere, from Old English brēr

Noun (2)

short for briar pipe, from briar wood of the European heath, from French bruyère heath, from Middle French bruiere, from Vulgar Latin *brucaria, from Late Latin brucus heather, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish froech heather; akin to Greek ereikē heather

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