brava

English

Etymology

From Italian brava, feminine of bravo.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɑ.və/
• Rhymes: -ɑːvə

Interjection

brava

1. Alternative form of bravo spoken to a female performer
   • 1973 May 13, Connie Oliva, “Movie Mailbag”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 July 2025:

     BRAVA! Brava! Brava! to Caryl Rivers for her article “Why Can't Hollywood See That 35 Is Beautiful, Too?” It's about time people recognized the double standard in films where men and women are concerned.

   • 1983, Alena Lasley, Paul Lasley, Frommer’s 1983-84 Guide to San Francisco, New York, N.Y.: Frommer/Pasmantier Publishers, →ISBN, page 57:

     When ballet stars perform in San Francisco, they always dine at Bali’s, the domain of a Manchurian-born Armenian, owner Armen Baliantz. […] An ex-ballerina herself, she has now brought all her discipline, grace, and charm to the running of Bali’s, and all we can say is “brava!”

   • 2005, Frederic Morton, “May 1955: Best Man on the Baltic”, in Runaway Waltz: A Memoir from Vienna to New York, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, pages 91–92:

     This message sticks in the memory as a small masterpiece of innuendo. / congrats on sublime times mandate pun intended no congrats from mama morton whom phoned per request mama not thrilled for boy that he interview mann mama thrilled for mann that he interviewed by boy till palermo immer noch deine / marcia / Brava. Brilliant Mama’s boy baiting.

Noun

brava (plural bravas)

1. A shout of "brava!".

Albanian

Noun

brava

1. inflection of bravë:
   1. definite nominative singular
   2. indefinite nominative/accusative plural

Asturian

Adjective

brava

1. feminine singular of bravu

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [ˈbɾa.βə]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈbɾa.və]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈbɾa.va]
• IPA^(key): (Northwestern) [ˈbɾa.βa]

Adjective

brava

1. feminine singular of brau

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrava/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ava
• Syllabification: bra‧va

Adjective

brava (accusative singular bravan, plural bravaj, accusative plural bravajn)

1. brave, valiant

Further reading

• “brava”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “brava”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

French

Verb

brava

1. third-person singular past historic of braver

Ido

Adjective

brava

1. brave

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbra.va/
• Rhymes: -ava
• Hyphenation: brà‧va

Adjective

brava f sg

1. feminine singular of bravo

Maltese

Adjective

brava f

1. feminine singular of bravu

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.vɐ/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.vɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.vɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.bɐ/ [ˈbɾa.βɐ]

• Rhymes: -avɐ, (Northern Portugal) -abɐ
• Hyphenation: bra‧va

Adjective

brava

1. feminine singular of bravo

Romanian

Etymology

Etymology tree

French brave

Proto-Italic *-āzi

▲

Latin -ereinflu.

Latin -āre

Old French -ier

Middle French -er

French -er

French braverbor.

Romanian brava

Borrowed from French braver.

Verb

a brava (third-person singular present bravează, past participle bravat) 1st conjugation

1. (transitive) to challenge, defy

Conjugation

    conjugation of brava (first conjugation, -ez- infix)

infinitive			a brava
gerund			bravând
past participle			bravat
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	bravez	bravezi	bravează	bravăm	bravați	bravează
	imperfect	bravam	bravai	brava	bravam	bravați	bravau
	simple perfect	bravai	bravași	bravă	bravarăm	bravarăți	bravară
	pluperfect	bravasem	bravaseși	bravase	bravaserăm	bravaserăți	bravaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să bravez	să bravezi	să braveze	să bravăm	să bravați	să braveze
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		bravează			bravați
	negative		nu brava			nu bravați

Serbo-Croatian

Noun

bràva f (Cyrillic spelling бра̀ва)

1. lock (of door)

Declension

Declension of brava

	singular	plural
nominative	bràva	brave
genitive	brave	brȃvā
dative	bravi	bravama
accusative	bravu	brave
vocative	bravo	brave
locative	bravi	bravama
instrumental	bravom	bravama

Spanish

Adjective

brava

1. feminine singular of bravo