Etymologically
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brave

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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
  • 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)