bruvver

English

Etymology

Representing the Cockney or Multicultural London English pronunciation of brother.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ʹbrə-vər
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʌ.və(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹʌ.vɚ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌvə(ɹ)

Noun

bruvver (plural bruvvers)

1. (Cockney, MLE, slang) Brother.
   • 1953, Ezra Pound, letter to Margaret Anderson, reproduced in Thomas L. Scott et al. (editors), Pound/The Little Review: the Letters of Ezra Pound to Margaret Anderson, New Directions Books (1988), page 314:

     Gurdjieff I thot a man an a bruvver, but NObuddy is goin to swallow Ouspensky

   • 1992, Harry Bowling, The girl from Cotton Lane, Headline Book Publishing:

     Gawd knows when yer bruvver's gonna get married.

2. Nonstandard form of brother.
   • 1973, Toni Morrison, Sula, page 60:

     Chicken was still elated. "I was way up there, wasn’t I? Wasn’t I? I’m a tell my brovver."

Derived terms

• bruv