Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BEAR, n. [Sax. bera; Ger. bär; D. beer; Sw. Dan. and Ice. biörn; Ir. bear; allied perhaps to fierce, L. ferus, fera, or to barbarus.]

1. A wild quadruped, of the genus ursus. The marks of the genus are, six fore teeth in the upper jaw, alternately hollow on the inside; and six in the under jaw, the two lateral ones lobated; the dog teeth are solitary and conical; the eyes have a nictitating membrane, and the nose is prominent. The arctos, or black bear, has his body covered with long shaggy hair. Some are found in Tartary, of a pure white color. The polar, or white bear, has a long head and neck; short, round ears; the hair long, soft, and white, tinged in some parts with yellow. He grows to a great size, the skins of some being 13 feet long. This bear lives in cold climates only, and frequently swims from one isle of ice to another. – Encyc.
2. The name of two constellations in the northern hemisphere, called the Greater and Lesser Bear. In the tail of the Lesser Bear is the pole star.