Phrase guide

American black bear

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /əˈmɛɹɪkən blæk bɛəːɹ/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A bear of the species Ursus americanus, native to cooler climates in North America.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

brown to black North American bear; smaller and less ferocious than the brown bear

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: black bear, Ursus americanus, Euarctos americanus

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: bear

Narrower terms: cinnamon bear

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

65 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Abenaki: awasos — Ursus americanus
  • Algonquin: makwa — Ursus americanus
  • Azerbaijani: baribal — Ursus americanus
  • Belarusian: барыбал (barybal) — Ursus americanus
  • Catalan: ós negre americà — Ursus americanus
  • Catalan: baribal — Ursus americanus
  • Cherokee: ᎠᎺᎵᎨ ᎬᏂᎨ ᏲᎾ (amelige gvnige yona) — Ursus americanus
  • Cheyenne: mo'ôhtáenáhkohe — Ursus americanus
  • Chinese: 烏熊 /乌熊 (o͘-hîm) — Ursus americanus
  • Chinese Mandarin: 黑熊 (hēixióng) — Ursus americanus
  • Cowlitz: sčə́txwnʼ — Ursus americanus
  • Atikamekw: maskoretcic — Ursus americanus
  • Northern East Cree: ᒋᔖᔮᒄ class Animate (chishaayaakw) — Ursus americanus
  • Southern East Cree: ᒋᔐᔮᒄ class Animate (chisheyaakw) — Ursus americanus
  • Dene: tsah — Ursus americanus
  • Dutch: Amerikaanse zwarte beer — Ursus americanus
  • Esperanto: Amerika nigra urso — Ursus americanus
  • Finnish: mustakarhu — Ursus americanus
  • French: ours noir — Ursus americanus
  • French: baribal — Ursus americanus
  • Georgian: ბარიბალი (baribali) — Ursus americanus
  • German: Amerikanischer Schwarzbär — Ursus americanus
  • German: Baribal — Ursus americanus
  • German: Schwarzbär — Ursus americanus
  • Inupiaq: iggaġri — Ursus americanus
  • Irish: béar dubh Meiriceánach — Ursus americanus
  • Italian: orso nero — Ursus americanus
  • Italian: baribal — Ursus americanus
  • Italian: orso nero americano — Ursus americanus
  • Japanese: 亜米利加熊 — Ursus americanus
  • Japanese: アメリカグマ (Amerikaguma) — Ursus americanus
  • Karok: vírusur — Ursus americanus
  • Kiliwa: kmákan — Ursus americanus
  • Klamath-Modoc: wit'eem — Ursus americanus
  • Lakota: matȟósapa — Ursus americanus
  • Latin: ursus amerī̆canus — Ursus americanus
  • Latvian: Amerikas melnais lācis — Ursus americanus
  • Lushootseed: sčətxwəd — Ursus americanus
  • Malecite-Passamaquoddy: muwin — Ursus americanus
  • Montana Salish: nłamqeʔ — Ursus americanus
  • Nahuatl: cuetlachtlacamayeh — Ursus americanus
  • Navajo: shash — Ursus americanus
  • Navajo: shash łizhinígíí — Ursus americanus
  • Norwegian Bokmål: svartbjørn — Ursus americanus
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: svartbjørn — Ursus americanus
  • O'odham: juḍum — Ursus americanus
  • O'odham: juḍumĭ — Ursus americanus
  • Polish: baribal — Ursus americanus
  • Polish: niedźwiedź czarny — Ursus americanus
  • Portuguese: urso negro americano — Ursus americanus
  • Portuguese: urso-negro — Ursus americanus
  • Romanian: baribal — Ursus americanus
  • Romanian: urs negru american — Ursus americanus
  • Russian: бариба́л (baribál) — Ursus americanus
  • Russian: чёрный медве́дь (čórnyj medvédʹ) — Ursus americanus
  • Sahaptin: yáka — Ursus americanus
  • Scots: American black beir — Ursus americanus
  • Spanish: oso negro — Ursus americanus
  • Spanish: baribal — Ursus americanus
  • Spanish: oso negro americano — Ursus americanus
  • Thai: หมีดํา (mĕe-dam) — Ursus americanus
  • Turkish: Amerikan kara ayısı — Ursus americanus
  • Turkish: Amerikan siyah ayısı — Ursus americanus
  • Yup'ik: tan'gerliq — Ursus americanus
  • Yup'ik: unguvalria — Ursus americanus