Word Direct Answers

What does "brute" mean?

Brute: 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.

Additional senses

  1. 2.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.
  2. 3.Having the physical powers predominating over the mental; coarse; unpolished; unintelligent. A great brute farmer from Liddesdale. Sir W. Scott.
  3. 4.Rough; uncivilized; unfeeling. [R.]
  4. 5.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.
  5. 6.A brutal person; a savage in heart or manners; as unfeeling or coarse person. An ill-natured brute of a husband. Franklin.
  6. 7.To report; to bruit. [Obs.]

Sources