ran_, in the dialects of other Romanic languages,
and also in Celtic, cf. Breton _brenn_, Gaelic _bran_. The _New English
Dictionary_ considers these Celtic forms to be borrowed from French or
English. In modern French _bren_ means filth, refuse, and this points to
some connexion with Celtic words, e.g. Irish _brean_, manure. If so, the
original meaning would be refuse. "Bran-new," i.e. quite new, is now
the common form of "brand-new," that which is fresh from the "brand,"
the branding-iron used for marking objects, &c.

BRANCH (from the Fr. _branche_, late Lat. _branca_, an animal's paw), a
limb of a tree; hence any offshoot, e.g. of a river, railway, &c., of a
deer's antlers, of a family or genealogical tree, and generally a
subdivision or department, as in "a branch of learning." The phrase, to
destroy "root and branch," meaning to destroy utterly, taken originally
from Malachi iv. 1, was made famous in 1641 by the so-called "Root and
Branch" Bill and Petition for the abolition of episcopal government, in
which petition occurred the sentence, "That the said government, with
all its dependencies, roots and branches, be destroyed." Among technical
senses of the word "branch" are: the certificate of proficiency given to
pilots by Trinity House; and in siege-craft a length of trench forming
part of a zigzag approach.

BRANCO, or PARIMA, a river of northern Brazil and tributary of the Rio
Negro, formed by the confluence of the Takutu, or "Upper Rio Branco,"
and Uraricoera, about 3 deg. N. lat. and 60 deg. 28' W. long., and
flowing south by west to a junction with the Negro. It has rapids in its
upper course, but the greater part of its length of 348 m. is navigable
for steamers of light draught. The Takutu rises in the Roraima and
Coirrit ranges on the Guiana frontier, while the Uraricoera rises in the
Serra de Parima, on the Venezuelan frontier, and has a length of 360 m.
before reaching the Branco. These are white water rivers, from which the
Branco (white) derives its name, and at its junction with the Negro the
two differently-coloured streams flow side by side for some distance
before mingling.

BRANCOVAN, or BRANCOVEANU, the name of a family which has played an
important part in the history of Rumania. It was of Servian origin and
was connected with the family of Branko or Brankovich. Constantine
Brancovan, the most eminent member of the family, was born in 1654, and
became prince of Walachia in