brier
UK[ˈbraɪə]US[ˈbraɪər]
n
A wild thorny shrub, especially a wild rose bush.
n
A tangled mass of thorny shrubs or a patch of ground covered with them.
n
A type of tobacco pipe made from the root of a heath shrub.
Etymology
The word 'brier' originates from the Old English 'brēr', which referred to a thorny bush. This term is of Germanic origin, related to the Middle Low German 'brēr' meaning 'bramble'. The semantic core has consistently centered on prickly, wild vegetation. The application of the word to a tobacco pipe, made from the root of the white heath (Erica arborea), is a later metaphorical extension from the 19th century, borrowing the name of a different, Mediterranean shrub due to the material's source.
Analysis
The word 'brier' is a simplex word of Old English origin, borrowed from a common Germanic root. It does not contain separable morphemes in its modern English form.
Examples
The path was overgrown with brier and bramble.
He lost his hat trying to push through the thick brier.
He sat quietly, smoking his old brier pipe.