braai

English

WOTD – 2 July 2008

Etymology

Borrowed from Afrikaans braai (“to grill”), from Dutch braden (“roast”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɹaɪ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ
• Hyphenation: braai

Noun

braai (countable and uncountable, plural braais)

1. (South Africa) A barbecue (grill), especially an open outdoor grill built specifically for the purpose of braaing.
2. (chiefly South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe) A social meeting, including the braaing of meat; a cookout.

   Come over to our place for a braai.

3. (uncountable) Meat cooked by this method.

Verb

braai (third-person singular simple present braais, present participle braaing or braaiing, simple past and past participle braaied)

1. (chiefly South Africa) To grill meat over an open flame (not on a gas grill).
   • 2015 June 1, Pamela Power, Ms Conception, Penguin Random House South Africa, →ISBN:

     […] so we decide to braai some ribs for supper.

   • 2018, Tsitsi Dangarembga, This Mournable Body, Faber & Faber (2020), page 89:

     You sniff the air. Smoke. Spices. One of the residents on the road has been, or perhaps is still, braaing.

Coordinate terms

• barbecue
• barbeque
• barbie
• BBQ
• chisa nyama

Derived terms

• braaivleis
• bring-and-braai
• minibraai
• spitbraai

Anagrams

• Abair, Rabia, baria, Ibara

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch braden, from Middle Dutch brâden, from Old Dutch brādan, from Proto-Germanic *brēdaną.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /brɑːi/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

braai (present braai, present participle braaiende, past participle gebraai)

1. (cooking) to grill meat over an open flame, to braai

   Nou gaan ons braai

   We are going to braai now

   Ek mag nie vleis in my tuin braai nie.

   I am not allowed to braai in my garden.

Noun

braai (plural braaie)

1. a barbecue (especially South African barbecue)
2. an open outdoor grill built specifically for the purpose of braaing
3. a social meeting, including the braaing of meat

   Nou gaan ons braai!

   Now we braai!

Descendants

• → Dutch: braai
• → English: braai

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /braːi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: braai
• Rhymes: -aːi

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Afrikaans braai (“barbecue”), from Dutch braden.

Noun

braai m (plural braaien, diminutive braaitje n)

1. a barbecue
2. an open outdoor grill built specifically for the purpose of braaing
3. a social meeting, including the braaing of meat

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

braai

1. inflection of braaien:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. (in case of inversion) second-person singular present indicative
   3. imperative