Etymologically
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bravo

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Pronunciation

Forms

bravo (feminine brava, masculine plural bravi, feminine plural brave, superlative bravissimo)[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.[2][3][1] It is most often explained as inherited from Latin barbarus (“foreign; wild”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, non-Greek”).[4][3][5][6] The LEI derives it from a syncopated ⟨*barbru⟩, which became ⟨*babru⟩ by dissimilation and then ⟨*brabu⟩ by metathesis, an explanation first put forward by Cornu and accepted by Meyer-Lübke, Wartburg, Corominas and others.[5][6] Nocentini prefers a direct change from ⟨barbaru⟩ to ⟨*barbu⟩, with the loss of the pseudo-suffix, then to ⟨*brabu⟩ by metathesis.[4]

The oldest records, from Spain and Occitania in the 11th and 12th centuries, describe horses as wild, unbroken, the state of horses from Barbary;[4] Nocentini takes “wild” for the first sense, which led on one side to “unruly, overbearing” and on the other to “bold, brave” and then “skilful”.[4] The same word is Old Occitan brau, Catalan brau, Spanish bravo and Portuguese bravo, and brado “wild, roaming free” is a variant of it.[4][6] French brave was borrowed from Italian, according to DEI during the wars of the early 16th century.[4][7]

Others derived it from Latin prāvus (“crooked, depraved”), taken in a positive sense that DELI finds in a passage of Seneca;[2][5][8] Menéndez Pidal held this view, and Prati also preferred it.[2][5][8] The LEI rejects it on semantic and phonetic grounds, and Meyer-Lübke noted that the change of /p/ to /b/ is unexplained.[5][6] DELI finds the arguments so evenly balanced that several scholars assume a crossing of both words, as Devoto and Sabatini–Coletti do.[2][9][10] Wiktionary also mentions a Gaulish source through Occitan, and Prati thought the Italian word might have come from Spanish.[1][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Anonimo Genovese, before 1311, where the word describes men as bold or fierce.[11] In 1314 Francesco da Barberino uses medieval Latin bravus of a horse.[2] DELI's first Italian record of the modern sense, “doing one's work with goodwill and skill”, is in Fazio degli Uberti, before 1367.[2][12]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “wild” survived for some time: the TLIO records it of an untamed animal and of stormy waves, and DELI finds costa brava “rugged coast” in Amerigo Vespucci (1504), a use close to Spanish.[11][2] The bad sense “swaggering, overbearing” is recorded in 1537, and the noun bravo, a hired armed man in the service of a lord, before 1529.[2][12] Bravura (braura in Masuccio Salernitano, 1476) first meant daring, and bravata (1536) a reckless show of daring.[2]

The good senses spread later: bravo as an intensifier before a noun is in Matteo Bandello (1544), as an exhortation in Goldoni (1758), and as an exclamation of approval it is recorded in 1829, though it must be older, since other languages had borrowed it in the 18th century.[2] The sense “good, honest” is in Pietro Giordani (1821).[2]

From Italian the exclamation went to German (1715), French (1738) and English (1761), mostly as a theatre word;[12][13] English had already taken the noun bravo “hired killer” in 1597.[12][13] The adjective brave came into English in the late 15th century through French.[13]

Timeline

  • Before 1311 – The Anonimo Genovese uses bravo for bold, fierce.[11]
  • 1314 – Francesco da Barberino uses medieval Latin bravus of a horse.[2]
  • Before 1367 – Fazio degli Uberti uses it for skilful.[2]
  • 1476 – Masuccio Salernitano uses braura, the later bravura.[2]
  • Before 1529 – The noun bravo, a hired armed man, is recorded.[12]
  • 1597 – English bravo “hired killer” is recorded.[12]
  • 1715 – German takes the exclamation bravo.[12]
  • 1758 – Goldoni uses bravo as an exhortation.[2]
  • 1761 – English bravo “well done!” is recorded.[12][13]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Good at something, skilful, capable: È una brava cuoca.[3][14][1]
  2. Good, honest, well-behaved: Il nostro medico è un brav’uomo.[3][10][1]
  3. (colloquial, before the noun) Used as an intensifier, “one's due”, “the usual”: Ogni mattina beve il suo bravo caffè.[3][2]
  4. (literary) brave, bold.[3][1]
  5. (archaic) Of animals, untamed; of places, wild, rugged.[3][1]

Interjection

  1. Well done!, an exclamation of approval or applause: Bravo, hai indovinato!, da bravo urges someone, often a child, to do something.[3][1][12]

Noun

  1. (historical) A henchman, a hired armed man in the service of a lord, especially in the 17th century.[3][1][12]

Word family

  • bravura
  • bravata
  • bravaccio
  • bravamente
  • bravare
  • braveria

Usage notes

The feminine brava and plural bravi, brave agree with the person praised, also in the exclamation.[1][13] Formulas such as brava donna and brav’uomo were once used to address strangers and survive in joking use.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  4. ^ a b c d e f Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  5. ^ a b c d e Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 4, 1253
  6. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 593
  8. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 173
  9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 67
  10. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Stammerjohann, Harro, et al. (2008), Dizionario di italianismi in francese, inglese, tedesco, Firenze: Accademia della Crusca; online at difit.italianisticaonline.it
  13. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  14. ^ Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier