janbruin, noun
- Forms:
- Also with initial capital.
- Plurals:
- unchanged.
- Origin:
- Afrikaans, Dutch, MalayShow more Afrikaans, Jan John + bruinBrown; but perhaps originally Dutch tambrijn, adaptation of Malay tambera bronze (see quotation 1913).
Either of two species of seabream of the Sparidae, members of which are predominantly brown, bronze, or copper in colour: a. Gymnocrotaphus curvidens; John Brown sense a. b. Less commonly, the bronze bream (sense b), Pachymetopon grande. Also attributive.
- Note:
- In Smith and Heemstra’s Smiths’ Sea Fishes (1986), the name ‘janbruin’ is used for G. curvidens.
1902 J.D.F. Gilchrist in Trans. of S. Afr. Philological Soc. XI. iv. 229Jan Bruin, John Brown, Tambrijn?...Gymnocrotaphus curvidens.
1987 E. Prov. Herald 28 Mar. 6It (sc. the Hottentot) must have the world’s longest list of common names...To add to the confusion it is also known as jan bruin, a name also given to another far more insignificant fish.
Gymnocrotaphus curvidens; John Brown sense a.
Chrome
Firefox
Internet Explorer
Safari