brat

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɹæt/^[1]

Etymology

It is of uncertain origin,^[2][3][4] perhaps a special use of dialect brat “coarse garment, apron, rag”,^[2][5][3][4] from Middle English bratt, from Old English bratt (“cloak”),^[2][5][6] which is of Celtic origin.^[2][5][6][4] Old Irish bratt “cloak” is related.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A child, used with contempt (about 1505).^[7][5][3]

Semantic evolution

How a word for a rag or a child's apron came to mean a child is unclear,^[6][2] and the OED notes that evidence for the transition has not been found.^[6] In the earliest uses it suggested an unwanted child rather than a badly behaved one.^[6] The sense of an ill-mannered child is from 1808,^[6] and the word was applied to childishly selfish adults by 1968.^[6] Army brat and similar terms name the children of people in particular careers.^[3][1]

Timeline

• about 950 – Old English bratt, a cloak.^[5][7]
• about 1395 – a coarse garment.^[5][6]
• about 1505 – a child, in contempt.^[7][5][3]
• 1808 – an ill-mannered child.^[6]
• 1968 – a childishly selfish adult.^[6]
• 1985 – Brat Pack, young Hollywood actors.^[7][6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A child, especially a spoiled or ill-mannered one.
2. An immature, selfish person of any age.
3. The child of a career military person or of someone in a particular field, as in army brat.

Word family

• brattish
• brattishness
• brattiness
• bratty
• Brat Pack
• army brat

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press