braille

See also: Braille and braillé

English

ATM keypad with braille

Alternative forms

• Braille

Etymology

Borrowed from French braille, named after French educator Louis Braille (1809–1852). The /eɪl/ seems to reflect a spelling-pronunciation; French has /aj/ instead.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹeɪl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪl
• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹaɪ/ (approximating French pronunciation; uncommon)
• Rhymes: -aɪ

Noun

braille (countable and uncountable, plural brailles)

1. A system of writing in which letters and some combinations of letters are represented by raised dots arranged in three rows of two dots each and are read by the blind and partially sighted using the fingertips.
   • 1963, S. C. Ashcroft, Freda Henderson, Programmed Instruction in Braille, Stanwix House, →ISBN, page 6:

     Another difficulty which causes literature in braille to remain scarce is the cumbersomeness of the process of producing braille books.

Usage notes

The Braille Authority of North America recommends using lower-case braille for the script, and reserve capital Braille for the man. However, the script is commonly capitalized as well. In British English, the capitalised form Braille should always be used.

Derived terms

• Bharati braille
• brailler
• braillewriter

Translations

system of writing using raised dots

• Catalan: braille (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 盲文 (zh) (mángwén), 點字／点字 (zh) (diǎnzì), 盲字 (zh) (mángzì)

• Danish: punktskrift c
• Esperanto: Brajlo
• Finnish: sokeainkirjoitus (fi), pistekirjoitus (fi)
• French: braille (fr) m, Braille (fr) m
• German: Brailleschrift (de) f, Blindenschrift (de) f
• Greek: κώδικας Μπράιγ m (kódikas Bráig)
• Hebrew: כתב בריל‎ (he) m (ktav brail)
• Icelandic: blindraletur (is) n
• Irish: braille m, scríbhneoireacht bhraille f
• Italian: braille m
• Japanese: 点字 (ja) (てんじ, tenji), ブライユ点字 (ブライユてんじ, Buraiyu tenji)
• Korean: 점자(點字) (jeomja)
• Maori: tuhi matapō
• Norwegian: blindeskrift (no) m
• Portuguese: braile (pt) m, braille (pt) m
• Russian: а́збука Бра́йля f (ázbuka Brájlja), систе́ма Бра́йля f (sistéma Brájlja), брайль m (brajlʹ)
• Spanish: braille m
• Swedish: Brailleskrift, punktskrift
• Telugu: బ్రెయిలీ (breyilī)
• Vietnamese: chữ nổi (vi)
• Volapük: bleinanatonatem (vo)

Verb

braille (third-person singular simple present brailles, present participle brailling, simple past and past participle brailled)

1. To write in, or convert into, the braille writing system.

   I played back my recorded notes and brailled them.

   • 1967, Carlton Fredericks, Federal Trade Commission Decisions, volume 71, page 237:

     the sponsorship statement on respondent's brailled volumes [...] He admittedly had no knowledge of just how respondent's book [...] came to be brailled

2. (informal, by extension) to identify something by touch.

Adjective

braille (not comparable)

1. Of, relating to or written in braille.

Further reading

• braille on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Briella, Liberal, liberal

Dutch

Alternative forms

• Braille (unofficial)

Etymology

Borrowed from French braille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbraːi̯ə/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: brail‧le

Noun

braille n (uncountable)

1. braille

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʁaj/

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

Named after French educator Louis Braille (1809–1852).

Noun

braille m (plural brailles)

1. braille
   • 2004, “Catalogue”, in Bâtards Sensibles, performed by TTC:

     Tu nous sens venir / Ou tu veux qu’on te parle en braille ?

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

braille

1. inflection of brailler:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “braille”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• bâiller, libéral

Irish

Etymology

Borrowed from English braille.

Noun

braille m (genitive singular braille)

1. braille

   Synonym: scríbhneoireacht bhraille

Declension

Declension of braille

Fourth declension

Bare forms (no plural of this noun) Case Singular Nominative braille Vocative a bhraille Genitive braille Dative braille

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Nominative an braille Genitive an bhraille Dative leis an mbraille don bhraille

Derived terms

• cló bhraille m (“braille type”)

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
braille	bhraille	mbraille
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “braille”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Entries containing “braille” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “braille” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.
• “braille”, in The National Terminology Database for Irish, Fiontar & Scoil na Gaeilge, DCU and Foras na Gaeilge, 2006–2023

Middle English

Noun

braille

1. Alternative form of brayle

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• braile

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾaj.li/ [ˈbɾaɪ̯.li]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾaj.li/ [ˈbɾaɪ̯.li]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾaj.le/ [ˈbɾaɪ̯.le]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾaj.lɨ/

Noun

braille m (plural brailles)

1. braille (system of writing using raised dots)

Spanish

Proper noun

braille m

1. braille

Further reading

• “braille”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014