brav

Breton

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French brave, from Italian bravo, from Medieval Latin *bravus, from a conflation of Latin pravus with barbarus. Cognate with Welsh braf.

Adjective

brav

1. beautiful

Mutation

Mutation of brav

	unmutated	soft	aspirate	hard
simple form	brav	vrav	never occurs	never occurs

Czech

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *borvъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbraf]

Noun

brav m inan

1. outdated word for small cattle like pigs, goats, sheep

Declension

Declension of brav (sg-only hard masculine inanimate)

	singular
nominative	brav
genitive	bravu
dative	bravu
accusative	brav
vocative	brave
locative	bravu
instrumental	bravem

Further reading

• “brav”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “brav”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “brav”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

Danish

Etymology

From French brave, from Italian bravo, from Latin barbarus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbʁɑˀw]

Adjective

brav (neuter bravt, plural and definite singular attributive brave)

1. brave, bold, good, worthy

   Synonyms: gæv, tapper

2. (as an adverb) very; persistently

Inflection

Inflection of brav

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	brav	mere brav	mest brav2
indefinite neuter singular	bravt	mere brav	mest brav2
plural	brave	mere brav	mest brav2
definite attributive1	brave	mere brav	mest brave

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

• “brav” in Den Danske Ordbog

German

Alternative forms

• braf (obsolete)

Etymology

From French brave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʁaːf/

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

brav (strong nominative masculine singular braver, comparative braver, superlative am bravsten)

1. (of people, especially children, and pets, otherwise obsolete) good, well-behaved or reliable, obedient

   Ich verspreche, brav zu sein.

   I promise to be good.

   • 1766 September 18, Donnstags-Nachrichten von Zürich, number 38:

     Es wird zum Verkauf angetragen: […] 13. Ein brafer Gewehr-Kasten; und so man wollte, könnte man auch andere Sachen darein thun.

     It is put to sale: […] 13. A reliable rifle-chest; and if desired one could put other things in, too.

2. (of people, especially adults, dated) honest, upright, upstanding
3. (of clothes, behaviour) conventional, conservative, dowdy
4. (obsolete) lively, quick, bold, nimble, daring, racy
5. (obsolete) bold, keen, courageous

Declension

Positive forms of brav

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist brav	sie ist brav	es ist brav	sie sind brav
strong declension (without article)	nominative	braver	brave	braves	brave
	genitive	braven	braver	braven	braver
	dative	bravem	braver	bravem	braven
	accusative	braven	brave	braves	brave
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der brave	die brave	das brave	die braven
	genitive	des braven	der braven	des braven	der braven
	dative	dem braven	der braven	dem braven	den braven
	accusative	den braven	die brave	das brave	die braven
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein braver	eine brave	ein braves	(keine) braven
	genitive	eines braven	einer braven	eines braven	(keiner) braven
	dative	einem braven	einer braven	einem braven	(keinen) braven
	accusative	einen braven	eine brave	ein braves	(keine) braven

Comparative forms of brav

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist braver	sie ist braver	es ist braver	sie sind braver
strong declension (without article)	nominative	braverer	bravere	braveres	bravere
	genitive	braveren	braverer	braveren	braverer
	dative	braverem	braverer	braverem	braveren
	accusative	braveren	bravere	braveres	bravere
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der bravere	die bravere	das bravere	die braveren
	genitive	des braveren	der braveren	des braveren	der braveren
	dative	dem braveren	der braveren	dem braveren	den braveren
	accusative	den braveren	die bravere	das bravere	die braveren
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein braverer	eine bravere	ein braveres	(keine) braveren
	genitive	eines braveren	einer braveren	eines braveren	(keiner) braveren
	dative	einem braveren	einer braveren	einem braveren	(keinen) braveren
	accusative	einen braveren	eine bravere	ein braveres	(keine) braveren

Superlative forms of brav

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist am bravsten	sie ist am bravsten	es ist am bravsten	sie sind am bravsten
strong declension (without article)	nominative	bravster	bravste	bravstes	bravste
	genitive	bravsten	bravster	bravsten	bravster
	dative	bravstem	bravster	bravstem	bravsten
	accusative	bravsten	bravste	bravstes	bravste
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der bravste	die bravste	das bravste	die bravsten
	genitive	des bravsten	der bravsten	des bravsten	der bravsten
	dative	dem bravsten	der bravsten	dem bravsten	den bravsten
	accusative	den bravsten	die bravste	das bravste	die bravsten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein bravster	eine bravste	ein bravstes	(keine) bravsten
	genitive	eines bravsten	einer bravsten	eines bravsten	(keiner) bravsten
	dative	einem bravsten	einer bravsten	einem bravsten	(keinen) bravsten
	accusative	einen bravsten	eine bravste	ein bravstes	(keine) bravsten

Related terms

• bravieren
• Bravade

Further reading

• “brav” in Duden online
• “brav” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883), “brav”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891
• “brav” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Haitian Creole

Etymology

From French brave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɣav/

Adjective

brav

1. brave

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Low German brav and French brave, from Italian bravo.

Adjective

brav (masculine and feminine brav, neuter bravt, definite singular and plural brave, comparative bravere, indefinite superlative bravest, definite superlative braveste)

1. (literary) brave
2. (obsolete) good

Synonyms

• modig

References

• “brav” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “brav” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French brave, from Italian bravo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /brav/
• Rhymes: -av

Adjective

brav m or n (feminine singular bravă, masculine plural bravi, feminine/neuter plural brave)

1. brave, courageous

   Synonyms: viteaz, curajos, îndrăzneț

Declension

Declension of brav

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	brav		bravă		bravi	brave
	definite	bravul		brava		bravii	bravele
genitive- dative	indefinite	brav		brave		bravi	brave
	definite	bravului		bravei		bravilor	bravelor

Serbo-Croatian

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *borvъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /brâːʋ/

Noun

brȃv m inan (Cyrillic spelling бра̑в)

1. male sheep or goat

   Synonyms: jarac, ovan

2. wether

Declension

Declension of brav

	singular	plural
nominative	brav	bravi
genitive	brava	brava
dative	bravu	bravima
accusative	brava	brave
vocative	brave	bravi
locative	bravu	bravima
instrumental	bravom	bravima

Further reading

• “brav”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Slovak

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *borvъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [braʋ]

Noun

brav m animal (diminutive bravček)

1. barrow, castrated male pig

Further reading

• “brav”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025