brutal
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Pronunciation
- IPA: /ˈbɹuːtəl/ (UK); /ˈbɹu.təl/ (US)[1]
Etymology
It is borrowed from Middle French brutal or directly Medieval Latin brutalis,[2][3][4][5] from Latin brūtus (“heavy, dull, stupid”) (see brute).[2][4][5]
Earliest recorded meaning
Of the beasts, as opposed to humans; animal: about 1450 in the OED, the mid-15th century in Etymonline;[6][2] the late 15th century in NODE.[5]
Semantic evolution
Of persons, lacking intelligence or reason, it is from about 1510,[6][2] and as rude as a brute beast, coarse, from 1709.[6] Inhuman, coarsely cruel or savage, is from 1641 (the 1640s).[6][2][4] Harsh or extreme, as of weather, and unpleasantly frank, are later senses.[7][8] Brutality is 16th-century and brutalize 18th-century.[4]
Timeline
Modern meaning
Adjective
- Extremely cruel or ruthless; savage.
- Crude or unfeeling in speech or manner, or painfully honest.
- Harsh or severe: brutal cold.
Word family
- brutally
- brutalise
- Brutalism
- brutalize
- nonbrutal
- overbrutal
Related words
- brutality
- brute
- brutish
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins