bear (n.)
Old English bera "bear," from P.Gmc. *beron, lit. "the brown (one)" (cf. Old Norse björn, Middle Dutch bere, Dutch beer, Old High German bero, German Bär), from PIE *bher- (3) "bright, brown" (see brown). Greek arktos and Latin ursus retain the PIE root word for "bear" (*rtko; see Arctic), but it is believed to have been ritually replaced in the northern branches because of hunters' taboo on names of wild animals (cf. the Irish equivalent "the good calf," Welsh "honey-pig," Lithuanian "the licker," Russian medved "honey-eater"). Others connect the Germanic word with Latin ferus "wild," as if it meant "the wild animal (par excellence) of the northern woods."
Symbolic of Russia since 1794. Used of uncouth persons since 1570s. Stock market meaning "speculator for a fall" is 1709 shortening of bearskin jobber (from the proverb sell the bearskin before one has caught the bear); i.e. "one who sells stock for future delivery, expecting that meanwhile prices will fall." Paired with bull from c.1720. Bear claw as a type of large pastry is from 1942, originally chiefly western U.S.
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Note: There is a phrase in English (and the same phrase or similar in other languages) that goes "Speak of the Devil and he will appear." In some cultures, from regions where the local bears are particularly dangerous, they call bears by a nickname, such as "honey-eater/medved (Russian)". They do this with the thought that what they are calling the animal is not its real name (which would be dangerous), which is why they don't use a term closer to the pre-indo-european "bher" (like we do in English with "bear") or the Latin "ursus" (like they do in Spanish with "oso"). I would imagine that back in the day, a fair number of Russians were killed by bears.