brave

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself either from Provençal brau (“show-off”), from Gaulish *bragos (compare Middle Irish breagha (modern breá) 'fine', Breton braga 'to strut') or from Latin *bravus, from a fusion of pravus and barbarus into a root *bravus.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

brave (comparative braver, superlative bravest)

  1. Strong in the face of fear; courageous.
    • 1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Chapter 21:
      Do not fret, dear. You must be brave and strong, and help me through the horrible task. If you only knew what an effort it is to me to tell of this fearful thing at all, you would understand how much I need your help.
    • 1987, Michael Grumley, The Last Diary:
      […] he has been so brave, giving it all a dignity.
  2. (obsolete) Having any sort of superiority or excellence.
    • Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
      Iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth.
    • Samuel Pepys (1633-1703)
      It being a brave day, I walked to Whitehall.
  3. Making a fine show or display.
    • William Shakespeare (c.1564–1616)
      Wear my dagger with the braver grace.
    • Robert Greene (1558-1592)
      For I have gold, and therefore will be brave. / In silks I'll rattle it of every color.
    • Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
      Frog and lizard in holiday coats / And turtle brave in his golden spots.
    • 1908, W. B. M. Ferguson, Zollenstein, chapterIV:
      So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills, […] a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

Synonyms[edit]

Antonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

brave (plural braves)

  1. A Native American warrior.
  2. A man daring beyond discretion; a bully.
    • Dryden
      Hot braves like thee may fight.
  3. A challenge; a defiance; bravado.
    • Shakespeare
      Demetrius, thou dost overween in all; / And so in this, to bear me down with braves.

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

brave (third-person singular simple present braves, present participle braving, simple past and past participle braved)

  1. (transitive) To encounter with courage and fortitude, to defy.
    • (Can we date this quote?), John Dryden
      These I can brave, but those I can not bear.
    • 1773, A Farmer, Rivington's New-York Gazetteer, Number 53, December 2
      but they [Parliament] never will be braved into it.
    After braving tricks on the high-dive, he braved a jump off the first diving platform.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To adorn; to make fine or showy.
    • (Can we date this quote?), Shakespeare
      Thou [a tailor whom Grunio was browbeating] hast braved meny men; brave not me; I'll neither be faced or braved.

Translations[edit]

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Derived terms[edit]

French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Probably borrowed from Italian bravo, itself from a Latin *bravus, a fusion of prāvus and barbarus. Compare Spanish, Portuguese bravo.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

brave (masculine and feminine, plural braves)

  1. brave
  2. honest

Synonyms[edit]

Noun[edit]

brave m (plural braves)

  1. hero

Related terms[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

External links[edit]

German[edit]

Adjective[edit]

brave

  1. inflected form of brav

Italian[edit]

Adjective[edit]

brave f pl

  1. feminine plural of bravo

Jèrriais[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Late Latin *bravus.

Adjective[edit]

brave (epicene, plural braves)

  1. brave

Derived terms[edit]

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