Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The rite or ceremony of male circumcision, usually performed on the eighth day of life.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun the Jewish rite of circumcision.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Judaism ritual male circumcision

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the Jewish rite of circumcision performed on a male child on the eighth day of his life

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Ashkenazi Hebrew brīs, from Hebrew bərît (mīlâ), covenant (of circumcision).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Yiddish ברית (bris), from Hebrew בְּרִית ("covenant").

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Examples

  • Looks like my previous plans of being in bris from 28th are starting to dissolve (lack of crash space + ppl being all over the place).

    December 18th, 2003 2003

  • I'd * like* to be in bris for new years, but so far I haven't managed to nail down anyone who will actually say that they will be in bris and ergo capable of offering me somewhere to crash.

    December 6th, 2003 2003

  • Should be crashing at Kate's from 30th, so at least get a few days in bris w/everyone.

    December 18th, 2003 2003

  • Got several "if i'm in bris" offers, but everyone wavering like hells.

    December 6th, 2003 2003

  • And all three were covered with broken ice, logs, and all sorts of débris from the upper valleys.

    The Case of Jennie Brice 1913

  • Smooth, upright walls alone mark the place where the work has been done; and the amount of débris is altogether insignificant.

    A Thousand Miles Up the Nile 1891

  • And while Paul may have been a bit insensitive, the word bris in English probably did come from Yiddish (which more Jewish would have spoken than Hebrew), and the relationship between Jews and Yiddish has been a long and complicated one.

    Queerty 2009

  • Of course, since the word bris can be said to have entered the English language,

    Queerty 2009

  • The ceremony to keep the Covenant is called the bris -- short for bris milah -- the "covenant of circumcision," tracing back to a deal between God and Abraham, the ultimate father of all Jews and all Muslims, over 5,000 years ago!

    Lanny Davis: Love of A Grandchild, the Pain of the Bris 2010

  • The ceremony to keep the Covenant is called the bris -- short for bris milah -- the "covenant of circumcision," tracing back to a deal between God and Abraham, the ultimate father of all Jews and all Muslims, over 5,000 years ago!

    Love of A Grandchild, the Pain of the Bris 2010

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