Editing Bear (section)

==Etymology==
The English word "bear" comes from [[Old English]] ''{{lang|ang|bera}}'' and belongs to a family of names for the bear in [[Germanic languages]], such as Swedish ''{{lang|sv|[[bjorn|björn]]}}'', also used as a first name. This form is conventionally said to be related to a [[Proto-Indo-European]] word for "brown", so that "bear" would mean "the brown one".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iNUSDAAAQBAJ&q=indo%20european&pg=PA333|title=The Oxford Iintroduction to Proto Indo European and the Proto Indo European World|last1=Mallory|first1=J. P.|last2=Adams|first2=Douglas Q.|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-1-4294-7104-6|location=New York|page=333|oclc=139999117}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction.|last=Fortson|first=Benjamin W.|date=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4443-5968-8|edition=2nd|location=Hoboken|page=31|oclc=778339290}}</ref> However, [[Donald Ringe|Ringe]] notes that while this etymology is semantically plausible, a word meaning "brown" of this form cannot be found in Proto-Indo-European. He suggests instead that "bear" is from the Proto-Indo-European word ''*ǵʰwḗr- ~ *ǵʰwér'' "wild animal".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NlExDwAAQBAJ&q=Don%20ringe&pg=PA128|title=From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic|last=Ringe|first=Don|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2017|isbn=978-0-19-251118-8|edition=2nd|series=A Linguistic History of English|volume=1|location=Oxford|page=128}}</ref> This terminology for the animal originated as a [[Avoidance speech|taboo avoidance]] term: proto-Germanic tribes replaced their original word for bear—''arkto''—with this euphemistic expression out of fear that speaking the animal's true name might cause it to appear.<!--<ref name="indo-european1959">{{cite book |last=Pokorny |first=Julius |author-link=Julius Pokorny |title=Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch |publisher=Francke |url=http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/natlang/ie/pokorny.html |date=1959}}</ref>--><ref>{{cite dictionary|title=bear (n.)|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bear|dictionary=Online Etymology Dictionary|access-date=22 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202020051/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bear|archive-date=2017-02-02|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Postma|first1=Laura|title=The word for "bear"|url=http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/bearetymologyslovakenglishwelsh.html|website=University of Pittsburgh Slovak Studies Program|access-date=21 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122151051/http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/bearetymologyslovakenglishwelsh.html|archive-date=2017-11-22|url-status=live}}</ref> According to author [[Ralph Keyes (author)|Ralph Keyes]], this is the oldest known [[euphemism]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Silver |first1=Alexandra |title=Hooking Up and Using the John: Why Do We Use So Many Euphemisms? |url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2041313,00.html |access-date=4 April 2019 |magazine=Time |date=10 January 2011}}</ref>

Bear taxon names such as [[Arctoidea]] and ''[[Helarctos]]'' come from the ancient Greek ἄρκτος (''arktos''), meaning bear,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |author1=Liddell, Henry George|author2=Scott, Robert |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2315199 |title=Arktos |encyclopedia=A Greek-English Lexicon |publisher=Perseus Digital Library}}</ref> as do the names "[[arctic]]" and "[[antarctic]]", via the name of the [[constellation]] [[Ursa Major]], the "Great Bear", prominent in the northern sky.<ref name=UrsaMajor>{{cite web |url=http://www.souledout.org/nightsky/ursamandm/ursamajorandminor.html |title=The Great Bear Constellation Ursa Major |access-date=12 January 2017 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101130031637/http://souledout.org/nightsky/ursamandm/ursamajorandminor.html | archive-date= 30 November 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>

Bear taxon names such as Ursidae and ''Ursus'' come from Latin ''Ursus/Ursa'', he-bear/she-bear.<ref name=UrsaMajor/> The female first name "[[Ursula (given name)|Ursula]]", originally derived from a Christian [[St. Ursula|saint]]'s name, means "little she-bear" (diminutive of Latin ''ursa''). In Switzerland, the male first name "Urs" is especially popular, while the name of the canton and city of [[Bern]] is by legend derived from ''Bär'', German for bear. The Germanic name [[Bernard]] (including Bernhardt and similar forms) means "bear-brave", "bear-hardy", or "bold bear".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/UrsaMajor.html |title=Ursa Major – the Greater Bear |publisher=constellationsofwords.com |access-date=11 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150314234800/http://constellationsofwords.com/Constellations/UrsaMajor.html |archive-date=2015-03-14 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=bernhard |title=Bernhard Family History |publisher=ancestry.com |access-date=11 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402201212/http://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=bernhard |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=live }}</ref> The Old English name [[Beowulf]] is a [[kenning]], "bee-wolf",  for bear, in turn meaning a brave warrior.<ref>Sweet, Henry (1884) [https://archive.org/details/anglosaxonreader00sweerich ''Anglo-Saxon Reader in Prose and Verse'']. The Clarendon Press, p. 202.</ref>