Etymologically
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bravery

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈbɹeɪ.və.ɹi/, /ˈbɹeɪv.ɹi/[1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Middle French braverie (“the action of braving”),[2][3][4] from braver (“to brave”), or else from Italian braveria, from bravare.[2][4][5][6] Both go back to the adjective brave, from Italian bravo (“brave, bold”), whose origin is uncertain.[4] The Oxford Dictionary of English traces the root to Latin barbarus,[5] a derivation Etymonline considers less likely than one from prāvus (“crooked, depraved”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of braving; daring, defiance, boasting, bravado: 1548, in W. Patten's Expedicion into Scotlande.[2][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was disapproving: a show of defiance or swagger.[4][2] Courage as a good quality appears in Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie (before 1586), though the OED notes that the early quotations cannot always be told apart from bravado;[2][4] it is now the ordinary sense.[2] A parallel line of meaning, display and splendour (1573) and fine clothes (1563), kept the older idea of showy pretence.[2][4] In the 17th century a bravery could also be a gallant or beau (1616–70).[2] Johnson (1755) listed "courage; magnanimity; generosity; gallantry" first, but also gave "splendour; magnificence" and "bravado; boast".[7] The sense of bravado went out of use early in the 19th century.[2][8]

Timeline

  • 1548 – daring, defiance, boasting (obsolete by 1814).[2][3]
  • 1563 – finery, fine clothes.[2]
  • 1573 – display, splendour.[2]
  • before 1586 – courage as a good quality.[2]
  • 1616 – a gallant, a beau (obsolete by 1670).[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Courage or valour; the quality of being brave: the bravery of the lifeboat crew.[3][2][7]
  2. Finery; fine or showy clothes.[3][2][8]
  3. Showy display or splendour.[3][2][8]
  4. (archaic) An act of defiance or bravado (obsolete in the OED, 1548–1814).[3][2][8]

Word family

  • overbravery

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press