*beburaz

Runic: ᛒᛖᛒᚢᚱᚨᛉ Pronunciation: /ˈbe.βu.rɑz/

noun · masculine · a-stem

Meanings

beaver

Etymology

From a reduplicated Proto-Indo-European word for ‘beaver’, probably through pre-Germanic *bʰé-bʰr̥, thematicized as *beburaz. Kroonen (2013: 56–57) reconstructs an original athematic paradigm *bʰé-bʰr̥ ~ *bʰi-bʰr-ós; the traditional u-stem *bʰébʰrus ~ *bʰebʰréws is reflected in Indo-Aryan and Baltic but need not underlie the Germanic forms (Palmér 2025: 154-55). Cognate with Younger Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬡𐬭𐬀 (baβra), Latin fiber, Lithuanian bẽbras, bebrùs, Old Prussian bebrus, and Proto-Slavic *bebrъ ~ *bobrъ; Gaulish bebru- is chiefly onomastic and does not establish a Proto-Celtic u-stem (de Vaan 2008: 217; Matasović 2009a: 59; Palmér 2025: 154–55). The semantic motivation is disputed. The traditional analysis connects the zoonym with Sanskrit babhrú-, interpreting it as referring to the animal’s brownish fur; alternatively, Furlan (Furlan 2026: 73–74, s.v. bober), citing Oettinger, relates it to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-, with an original sense ‘one who continually carries (branches)’.

Declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	beburaz	biburōz, biburōs
Acc.	beburą	beburanz
Gen.	beburas, beburis	beburǫ̂
Dat.	beburai	beburamaz
Inst.	beburō	beburamiz
Voc.	bebur	biburōz, biburōs

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Descendants

*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- *bevar (Old Dutch)
  - bēver (Middle Dutch)
    - baever (Limburgish)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- *bevar (Old Dutch)
  - bēver (Middle Dutch)
    - bever (Dutch)
      - bewer (Afrikaans)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- befer, beofor, byfor, bebr, bebir, beber, befor, beofer, beuer (Old English)
  - bever, beauver, beever, befer, beofer, beuver, bevere, bevre, bevyr, bevyre, bewer, byvre (Middle English)
    - beaver (English)
    - bever, baiver (Scots)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- *bever (Old Frisian)
  - biiber (North Frisian)
  - bever (West Frisian)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- bibar, bibur (Old High German)
  - biber (Middle High German)
    - ביבער (biber) (Yiddish)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- bibar, bibur (Old High German)
  - biber (Middle High German)
    - Biber (German)
      - Biber (Luxembourgish)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- biƀar, biƀor (Old Saxon)
  - bēver (Middle Low German)
    - bäver (Elfdalian)
    - bævur (Faroese)
    - bävar (Gutnish)
    - Bever (Low German)
    - Bieba (Plautdietsch)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- biƀar, biƀor (Old Saxon)
  - bēver (Middle Low German)
    - bever (Norwegian Bokmål)
    - bever (Norwegian Nynorsk)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- biƀar, biƀor (Old Saxon)
  - bēver (Middle Low German)
    - biauær (Old Danish)
      - bæver (Danish)
      - bifur (Icelandic)
*bebru (Proto-West Germanic)
- biƀar, biƀor (Old Saxon)
  - bēver (Middle Low German)
    - bæver (Old Swedish)
      - bäver (Swedish)
bjórr (Old Norse)
- bjór (Icelandic)
- bjor (Norwegian Bokmål)
- bjor (Norwegian Nynorsk)
bjórr (Old Norse)
- biūr, bifær (Old Danish)
  - byr (Danish)
bjórr (Old Norse)
- biūr (Old Swedish)
  - bjur (Swedish)

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