brat English · revision 1607

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɹæt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is of uncertain origin,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) perhaps a special use of dialect ''brat'' “coarse garment, apron, rag”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) [[der|enm|bratt]], [[der|ang|bratt|t=cloak]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) which is of Celtic origin.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Old Irish ''bratt'' “cloak” is related.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A child, used with contempt (about 1505).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ How a word for a rag or a child's apron came to mean a child is unclear,^(Etymonline)^(AHD) and the OED notes that evidence for the transition has not been found.^(Etymonline) In the earliest uses it suggested an unwanted child rather than a badly behaved one.^(Etymonline) The sense of an ill-mannered child is from 1808,^(Etymonline) and the word was applied to childishly selfish adults by 1968.^(Etymonline) ''Army brat'' and similar terms name the children of people in particular careers.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 950 – Old English ''bratt'', a cloak.^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989)

+ * about 1395 – a coarse garment.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * about 1505 – a child, in contempt.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1808 – an ill-mannered child.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1968 – a childishly selfish adult.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1985 – ''Brat Pack'', young Hollywood actors.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A child, especially a [[spoiled]] or ill-mannered one.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An immature, selfish person of any age.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The child of a career [[military]] person or of someone in a particular field, as in ''army brat''.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[brattish]]

+ * [[brattishness]]

+ * [[brattiness]]

+ * [[bratty]]

+ * [[Brat Pack]]

+ * [[army brat]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}