brag
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English braggen (“to make a loud noise; to speak boastfully”) of unknown origin. Possibly related to the Middle English adjective brag (“prideful; spirited”), which is probably of Celtic origin;[1] or from Old Norse bragr (“best; foremost; poetry”);[2] or through Old English from Old Norse braka (“to creak”).[3]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
brag (plural brags)
- A boast or boasting; bragging; ostentatious pretence or self-glorification.
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:
- Caesar […] made not here his brag / Of "came", and "saw", and "overcame".
- The thing which is boasted of.
- 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], H[enry] Lawes, editor, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, OCLC 228715864; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, OCLC 1113942837:
- Beauty is Nature's brag.
- 2015 October 27, Matt Preston, The Simple Secrets to Cooking Everything Better[1], Plum, →ISBN, page 192:
- You could just use ordinary shop-bought kecap manis to marinade the meat, but making your own is easy, has a far more elegant fragrance and is, above all, such a great brag! Flavouring kecap manis is an intensely personal thing, so try this version now and next time cook the sauce down with crushed, split lemongrass and a shredded lime leaf.
- (by ellipsis) The card game three card brag.
- January 23 1752, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, in Letters to His Son, published in 1774
- our mixed companies here, which, if they happen to rise above bragg and whist, infallibly stop short of every thing either pleasing or instructive
- January 23 1752, Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, in Letters to His Son, published in 1774
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
Verb[edit]
brag (third-person singular simple present brags, present participle bragging, simple past and past participle bragged)
- (intransitive) To boast; to talk with excessive pride about what one has, is able to do, or has done; often as an attempt to popularize oneself.
- (transitive) To boast of something.
- to brag of one's exploits, courage, or money
- c. 1591–1595, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene vi]:
- Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, / Brags of his substance, not of ornament. / Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade
Synonyms[edit]
Hyponyms[edit]
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Adjective[edit]
brag (comparative bragger, superlative braggest)
- Excellent; first-rate.
- (archaic) Brisk; full of spirits; boasting; pretentious; conceited.
- 1633 (first performance), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “A Tale of a Tub. A Comedy […]”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […] (Second Folio), London: […] Richard Meighen, published 1640, OCLC 51546498, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- a woundy, brag young fellow
Adverb[edit]
brag (comparative more brag, superlative most brag)
- (obsolete) proudly; boastfully
- 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Februarie. Aegloga Secunda.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], OCLC 606515406; reprinted as H[einrich] Oskar Sommer, editor, The Shepheardes Calender […], London: John C. Nimmo, […], 1890, OCLC 890162479:
- Seest how brag yond bullock beare […] his pricked eares?
References[edit]
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “brag”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2022), “wile”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.;
- ^ “brag” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
Anagrams[edit]
Danish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Norse brak, related to braka (“to break, crack”).
Noun[edit]
brag n (singular definite braget, plural indefinite brag)
Inflection[edit]
Related terms[edit]
- brage verb
Verb[edit]
brag
- imperative of brage
North Frisian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Frisian bregge, which derives from Proto-West Germanic *bruggju. Cognates include West Frisian brêge.
Noun[edit]
brag f (plural bragen)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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