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brigade

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 14:10. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /brɪˈɡeɪd/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French brigade (“body of soldiers”),[2][3][4][5] from Italian brigata (“troop, company, crowd”), from brigare (“to brawl, fight”), from briga (“strife, quarrel”),[2][3][4][6] which may be Celtic, compare Welsh bri (“power”),[3][7] or Germanic, related to the root of break.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A subdivision of an army: 1634 in Merriam-Webster, 1637 in Barnhart and the OED, the 1630s in Etymonline.[5][2][8][3]

Semantic evolution

A company or crew of people (before 1649) is an obsolete sense.[8] A band of people organized for a purpose, such as fighting fires, is from 1806,[8] as in the fire brigade.[7] The verb, to form into a brigade, is from 1781 in Merriam-Webster, 1805 in the OED.[5][8] Brigadier is from 1678.[2]

Timeline

  • 1634 – a brigade.[5]
  • 1678 – brigadier.[2]
  • 1781 – to brigade (verb).[5]
  • 1806 – an organized band.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A military unit smaller than a division, made of several battalions and usually commanded by a brigadier.
  2. A group of people organized for a task: a rescue brigade.

Verb

  1. To form into a brigade, or to group together.

Word family

  • interbrigade
  • subbrigade
  • bucket brigade
  • fire brigade
  • brigadier
  • brigadier general
  • brigand
  • brig

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press