BEAR - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

BEARAuthored

The Law Mind • 1242 words

Definition

"Bear" appears in legal contexts primarily as a verb with several distinct operative meanings, and secondarily as a noun in financial usage.

1. To carry or support. In its most general legal sense, to bear means to hold, carry, sustain, or give rise to something. A document may bear a signature, a date, or a seal. A contract may bear interest. An obligation may bear upon a party. This is the baseline functional sense underlying most legal uses of the word.

2. To bear arms. In constitutional law, to bear arms means to carry weapons — particularly firearms — for purposes connected to their military or defensive use. The phrase anchors the Second Amendment's operative clause and has been the subject of significant judicial interpretation. Courts have distinguished between carrying arms in a functional, ready-to-use sense and merely wearing or displaying them as adornment or dress.

3. To bear a burden or cost. A party may be said to bear the burden of proof, bear the costs of litigation, or bear liability. This sense is procedural and substantive: it allocates responsibility as between parties or against a legal standard.

4. Bear (noun, financial). In stock exchange usage, a bear is a speculator who profits from — or bets on — a decline in market prices. The counterpart is a bull, who speculates on a rise. This usage enters legal materials in securities law, exchange regulations, and financial fraud cases.

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Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): A large omnivorous mammal of the family Ursidae; also used informally to describe a rough or uncouth person, or something difficult to deal with.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): To support or sustain; to hold up; to carry; to conduct; to possess and use power; to sustain a mark or inscription.

The animal and the legal verb share only their spelling. The legal uses — bearing arms, bearing interest, bearing a burden — derive from the Webster's sense of support and carriage, not the creature. Researchers encountering "bear" in historical legal texts should read it as a verb of action or attribution, never as a reference to the animal. The financial noun sense (a market bear) is a separate figurative usage, likely derived from the animal's downward swipe, but it arrives in legal sources as a term of art with no further zoological content.

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Common Confusion

"Bear arms" has generated sustained interpretive confusion between a collective and an individual reading. For most of American history, courts treated the phrase as tied to militia service — bearing arms in an organized military context. The Supreme Court's decision in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) reframed the right as individual, holding that "bear arms" encompasses carrying a weapon for self-defense independent of militia duty. Researchers using pre-2008 sources — including older editions of Black's and virtually all nineteenth-century case law — will encounter the militia-centered reading as the dominant understanding. Do not assume terminological continuity: the phrase "bear arms" means something different in an 1870 treatise than it does in a post-Heller brief.

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Why It Matters in Research

The word "bear" is deceptively simple and therefore easy to misread in historical sources. Several navigational notes:

First, "bear arms" is one of the most litigated phrases in American constitutional law, and its meaning has shifted decisively within living legal memory. Sources predating Heller (2008) operate within a militia-framed paradigm. Sources post-Heller operate within an individual-rights paradigm. The same historical sources — including Aymette v. State (Tennessee, 1840), cited in Black's 2nd Ed. — are read differently across these two frameworks. A researcher who pulls nineteenth-century case law on the meaning of "bear arms" without awareness of this frame shift will misread what those courts were actually deciding.

Second, "bear interest" and "bear a date" appear constantly in contract and commercial law sources. Anderson's cross-references to DATE and INTEREST signal that bear functions in these contexts as a connector term — the document or instrument bears the operative legal attribute. In corpus searching, this means the word "bear" will appear in contexts ranging from constitutional debates to routine commercial instruments, and disambiguation requires reading surrounding terms carefully.

Third, the financial noun "bear" enters legal materials most often in securities fraud, market manipulation, and exchange-regulation contexts. Historical dictionaries treat it briefly; modern securities law has developed it more fully. Searching for "bear" in financial law sources without limiting to the noun form will produce overwhelming false positives from the verb.

Fourth, "bear the burden" is a procedural term of art that permeates civil and criminal procedure, evidence, and constitutional litigation. It does not mean carry an animal. When reading older treatises that speak of a party "bearing" something — a cost, a risk, a duty — read it as allocation language, not physical carriage.

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Historical Dictionary Support

Black's 1st Ed. covers only the financial noun, defining a bear as one who speculates for a fall in the market. This is a narrow slice of the word's legal life and suggests the editors treated the verb senses as self-evident from ordinary English.

Black's 2nd Ed. expands meaningfully, adding the "bear arms" definition and, importantly, the citation to Aymette v. State for the proposition that bearing arms means carrying them as weapons with reference to military use — not merely wearing them as dress. The editors also note that bearing arms as applied to firearms includes the right to load and shoot them. This is a militia-era reading, and researchers should note that Black's 2nd Ed. predates Heller by over a century.

Anderson's Dictionary of Law cross-references DATE and INTEREST without defining bear independently, treating it as a functional connecting word in commercial instruments rather than a term requiring its own entry. This is accurate as far as it goes but unhelpful for constitutional research.

The historical sources collectively underweight the constitutional dimension and overweight the financial and commercial uses. For any research touching the Second Amendment, the historical dictionaries should be treated as starting points only, supplemented by post-Heller constitutional scholarship and primary sources.

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Jurisdictional Note

State constitutions vary significantly in their right-to-arms provisions, some of which use "bear arms" and some of which use alternative phrasing. State courts interpreting these provisions are not bound by Heller's federal Second Amendment analysis, though many look to it for guidance. Researchers working with state constitutional materials should identify the specific state provision and its independent interpretive history rather than assuming federal doctrine controls.

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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

The Law Mind Constitutional Law Encyclopedia: constitutional_113 (The Second Amendment — Individual Right to Bear Arms (Heller)); constitutional_175 (The Right to Bear Arms and State Militia — Historical Context of the Second Amendment)

The Law Mind Remedies & Equity Encyclopedia: remedies_60 (The American Rule — Each Party Bears Own Fees and the Exceptions)

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BEARmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

In the language of the stock ex- change, this term denotes one who speculates for a fall in the market.

BEARmain

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910

To support, sustain, or carry; to give rise to, or to produce, something else as an incident or auxiliary. —Bear arms. To carry arms as weapons and with reference to their military use, not to wear them about the person as part of the dress, Aymette v. State, 2 Humph. (Tenn.) 158. <As applied to fire-arms, includes the right to load and shoot them, and to use them as such things are generally used. Hill y. State, 53 Ga. 480. —Bear interest. ‘To generate interest, so that the instrument or loan spoken of shall produce or yield interest at the rate specified by the parties or granted by law. Slaughter v. Slaughter, 21 Ind. App. 641, 452 N. E. 995.— Bearer. One who carries or holds a _ thing. When a check, note, draft, etc, is payable to “bearer,” it imports that the contents thereof shall be payable to any person who may present the instrument for payment. Thompson v. Perrine, 106 U. S. 589, 1 Sup. Ct. 564, 568, 27: L.. Ed. 298: Bradford v. Jenks. 3 Fed. Cas. 1,132; Hubbard v. Railroad Co., 14 Abb. Prac. (N. Y.) 278.—Bearers. In old English law. Niles v. Patch, 13 Gray

BEARcrossref

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

See DATE; INTEREST, 2 (3).

BEARv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To support or sustain; to hold up. To support and remove or carry; to convey. I 'll bear your logs the while. Shak. To conduct; to bring; -- said of persons. [Obs.] Bear them to my house. Shak. To possess and use, as power; to exercise. Every man should bear rule in his own house. Esther i. 22. To sustain; to have on (written or inscribed, or as a mark), as, the tablet bears this inscription. To possess or carry, as a mark of authority or distinction; to wear; as, to bear a sword, badge, or name. To possess mentally; to carry or hold in the mind; to entertain; to harbor Dryden. The ancient grudge I bear him. Shak. To endure; to tolerate; to undergo; to suffer. Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne. Pope. I cannot bear The murmur of this lake to hear. Shelley. My punishment is greater than I can bear. Gen. iv. 13. To gain or win. [Obs.] Some think to bear it by speaking a great word. Bacon. She was . . . found not guilty, through bearing of friends and bribing of the judge. Latimer. To sustain, or be answerable for, as blame, expense, responsibility, etc. He shall bear their iniquities. Is. liii. 11. Somewhat that will bear your charges. Dryden. To render or give; to bring forward. "Your testimony bear" Dryden. To carry on, or maintain; to have. "The credit of bearing a part in the conversation." Locke. To admit or be capable of; that is, to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change. In all criminal cases the most favorable interpretation should be put on words that they can possibly bear. Swift. To manage, wield, or direct. "Thus must thou thy body bear." Shak. Hence: To behave; to conduct. Hath he borne himself penitently in prison Shak. To afford; to be to ; to supply with. bear him company. Pope. To bring forth or produce; to yield; as, to bear apples; to bear children; to bear interest. Here dwelt the man divine whom Samos bore. Dryden. To corroborate; to confirm.  -- To bear up, to support; to keep from falling or sinking. "Religious hope bears up the mind under sufferings." Addison.

BEARv.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

To produce, as fruit; to be fruitful, in opposition to barrenness. This age to blossom, and the next to bear. Dryden. To suffer, as in carrying a burden. But man is born to bear. Pope. To endure with patience; to be patient. I can not, can not bear. Dryden. To press; -- with on or upon, or against. These men bear hard on the suspected party. Addison. To take effect; to have influence or force; as, to bring matters to bear. To relate or refer; -- with on or upon; as, how does this bear on the question To have a certain meaning, intent, or effect. Her sentence bore that she should stand a certain time upon the platform. Hawthorne. To be situated, as to the point of compass, with respect to something else; as, the land bears N. by E. To bear against, to approach for attack or seizure; as, a lion bears against his prey. [Obs.] -- To bear away (Naut.), to change the course of a ship, and make her run before the wind.  -- To bear back, to retreat. "Bearing back from the blows of their sable antagonist." Sir W. Scott.  -- To bear down upon (Naut.), to approach from the windward side; as, the fleet bore down upon the enemy.  -- To bear in with (Naut.), to run or tend toward; as, a ship bears in with the land.  -- To bear off (Naut.), to steer away, as from land.  -- To bear up. (a) To be supported; to have fortitude; to be firm; not to sink; as, to bear up under afflictions. (b) (Naut.) To put the helm up (or to windward) and so put the ship before the wind; to bear away. Hamersly.  -- To bear upon (Mil.), to be pointed or situated so as to affect; to be pointed directly against, or so as to hit (the object); as, to bring or plant guns so as to bear upon a fort or a ship; the artillery bore upon the center.  -- To bear up to, to tend or move toward; as, to bear up to one another.  -- To bear with, to endure; to be indulgent to; to forbear to resent, oppose, or punish.

BEARn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

A bier. [Obs.] Spenser.

bearnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous), having shaggy fur, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of the family Ursidae. | A large, generally omnivorous mammal (a few species are purely carnivorous or herbivorous), having shaggy fur, a very small tail, and flat feet; a member of the family Ursidae. | The meat of this animal. | A rough, unmannerly, uncouth person. | An investor who sells commodities, securities, or futures in anticipation of a fall in prices. | A state policeman (short for Smokey Bear). | A large, hairy man, especially one who is homosexual. | A koala (bear). | A portable punching machine. | A block covered with coarse matting, used to scour the deck. | The fifteenth Lenormand card. | Something difficult or tiresome; a burden or chore.

bearverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To endeavour to depress the price of, or prices in.

bearverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To carry (weapons, flags or symbols of rank, office, etc.) upon one's person, especially visibly; to be equipped with (weapons, etc.). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To wear (garments, pieces of jewellery, etc.). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To carry (offspring in the womb), to be pregnant (with). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To have or display (a mark or other feature). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To display (a particular heraldic device) on a shield or coat of arms; to be entitled to wear or use (a heraldic device) as a coat of arms. | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To present or exhibit (a particular outward appearance); to have (a certain look). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To have (a name, title, or designation). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To possess or enjoy (recognition, renown, a reputation, etc.); to have (a particular price, value, or worth). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To have (interest or a specified rate of interest) stipulated in its terms. | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To have (an appendage, organ, etc.) as part of the body; (of a part of the body) to have (an appendage). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To carry or hold in the mind; to experience, entertain, harbour (an idea, feeling, or emotion). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To feel and show (respect, reverence, loyalty, etc.) to, towards, or unto a person or thing. | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To possess inherently (a quality, attribute, power, or capacity); to have and display as an essential characteristic. | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To have (a relation, correspondence, etc.) to something else. | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To give (written or oral testimony or evidence); (figurative) to provide or constitute (evidence or proof), give witness. | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To have (a certain meaning, intent, or effect). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To behave or conduct (oneself). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To possess and use, to exercise (power or influence); to hold (an office, rank, or position). | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To carry a burden or burdens. | To carry or convey, literally or figuratively. | To take or bring (a person) with oneself; to conduct. | To support, sustain, or endure. | To support or sustain; to hold up. | To support, sustain, or endure. | To endure or withstand (hardship, scrutiny, etc.); to tolerate; to be patient (with). | To support, sustain, or endure. | To sustain, or be answerable for (blame, expense, responsibility, etc.). | To support, sustain, or endure. | To admit or be capable of (a meaning); to suffer or sustain without violence, injury, or change. | To support, sustain, or endure. | To warrant, justify the need for. | To support, keep up, or maintain. | To afford, to be something to someone, to supply with something. | To support, keep up, or maintain. | To carry on, or maintain; to have. | To press or impinge upon. | To push, thrust, press. | To press or impinge upon. | To take effect; to have influence or force; to be relevant. | To press or impinge upon. | Of a weapon, to be aimed at an enemy or other target. | To produce, yield, give birth to. | To give birth to (someone or something) (may take the father of the direct object as an indirect object). | To produce, yield, give birth to. | To produce or yield something, such as fruit or crops. | To be, or head, in a specific direction or azimuth (from somewhere). | To gain or win.

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