brave

Pronunciation

• IPA: /breɪv/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French brave (“splendid, valiant”),^[2][3][4] from Italian bravo (“brave, bold, fine”) or Spanish bravo (“courageous, wild, savage”),^[3][5][6] a word of uncertain origin.^[2] Many derive it from Latin barbarus (see barbarous), through a Romance *brabus;^[4][5][7] Barnhart thinks this phonetically doubtful and also allows Medieval Latin bravus “cutthroat”, from Latin prāvus “crooked, depraved”, which Etymonline takes as more likely.^[3][2] A Celtic origin has also been suggested, and two or more words may have been confused.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Courageous, daring: 1485, in Caxton's translation from French.^[3][8]

Semantic evolution

Word Origins notes that the courageous were bold in Old English and could be courageous in the Middle Ages, but brave only from the late 15th century;^[9] Old English words for the quality included mōdig, beald, cēne and dyrstig.^[2] Finely dressed, splendid or showy is from 1568, close to Scots braw.^[8][9] As a noun, brave was a hector or bully in the 1590s and a bold person about 1600;^[2] a North American Indian warrior is from 1827.^[2] The verb, to challenge or defy, is from 1546 in Barnhart and MWU;^[3][7] to face something with courage, 1761 in Etymonline.^[2] Brave new world is the title of Aldous Huxley's satirical novel of 1932, taken from Miranda's words in Shakespeare's Tempest.^[9][2] In much of English dialect, brave meant in good health, or fine, as an adverb “very well”.^[10]

Timeline

• 1485 – courageous, in Caxton.^[3][8]
• 1546 – to defy.^[3]
• 1568 – finely dressed, splendid.^[8]
• 1590s – a bully.^[2]
• 1761 – to face with courage.^[2]
• 1827 – a Native American warrior.^[2]
• 1932 – Brave New World.^[9]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having or showing courage; not afraid.
2. (literary) Fine or splendid: a brave show.

Verb

1. To face or endure something unpleasant or dangerous with courage: braving the cold.
2. (archaic) To defy or challenge.

Noun

1. (dated, now offensive) A warrior of a Native American people.
2. (the brave) Brave people as a group.

Word family

• bravely
• braveness
• braver
• overbrave
• superbrave
• unbrave
• outbrave
• brave new world

Related words

• bravo
• bravura
• bravado
• bravery
• braw
• barbarous

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)