Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Brute \Brute\, n.
   1. An animal destitute of human reason; any animal not human;
      esp. a quadruped; a beast.

            Brutes may be considered as either a["e]ral,
            terrestrial, aquatic, or amphibious.  --Locke.

   2. A brutal person; a savage in heart or manners; as
      unfeeling or coarse person.

            An ill-natured brute of a husband.    --Franklin.

   Syn: See {Beast}.

Brute \Brute\, v. t. [For bruit.]
   To report; to bruit. [Obs.]

Brute \Brute\, a. [F. brut, nasc., brute, fem., raw, rough,
   rude, brutish, L. brutus stupid, irrational: cf. It. & Sp.
   bruto.]
   1. Not having sensation; senseless; inanimate; unconscious;
      without intelligence or volition; as, the brute earth; the
      brute powers of nature.

   2. Not possessing reason, irrational; unthinking; as, a brute
      beast; the brute creation.

            A creature . . . not prone And brute as other
            creatures, but endued With sanctity of reason.
                                                  --Milton.

   3. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of, a brute beast.
      Hence: Brutal; cruel; fierce; ferocious; savage; pitiless;
      as, brute violence. --Macaulay.

            The influence of capital and mere brute labor.
                                                  --Playfair.

   4. Having the physical powers predominating over the mental;
      coarse; unpolished; unintelligent.

            A great brute farmer from Liddesdale. --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.

   5. Rough; uncivilized; unfeeling. [R.]

Source : WordNet®

brute
     adj : resembling a beast; showing lack of human sensibility;
           "beastly desires"; "a bestial nature"; "brute force";
           "a dull and brutish man"; "bestial treatment of
           prisoners" [syn: {beastly}, {bestial}, {brute(a)}, {brutish}]
     n 1: a cruelly rapacious person [syn: {beast}, {wolf}, {savage},
          {wildcat}]
     2: a living organism characterized by voluntary movement [syn:
        {animal}, {animate being}, {beast}, {creature}, {fauna}]