brave

See also: Brave and bravé

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: brāv, IPA^(key): /bɹeɪv/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪv

Etymology 1

From Middle French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself of uncertain origin (see there). Doublet of bravo.

Adjective

brave (comparative braver or more brave, superlative bravest or most brave)

1. Strong in the face of fear; courageous.

   Synonyms: bold, daring, doughty, orped, resilient, stalwart

   Antonyms: cowardly, fearful, mean, weak

   • 1578–1579, Ed[mund] Sp[enser], “Prosopopoia. Or Mother Hubberds Tale. [...] Dedicated to the Right Honorable the Ladie Compton and Mountegle”, in Complaints. Containing Sundrie Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. Whereof the Next Page Maketh Mention‎^[1], London: Imprinted for VVilliam Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the signe of the Bishops head, published 1591, →OCLC:

     For miſerie doth braueſt mindes abate, / And make them ſeeke for that they wont to ſcorne, / Of fortune and of hope at once forlorne.

   • 1897, Bram Stoker, chapter 21, in Dracula, New York, N.Y.: Modern Library, →OCLC:

     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.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act II, scene v:

     Is it not paſſing braue to be a King,
     And ride in triumph through Perſepolis?

   • 1625, Francis [Bacon], “Of Plantations”, in The Essayes […], 3rd edition, London: […] Iohn Haviland for Hanna Barret, →OCLC:

     Iron is a brave commodity where wood aboundeth.

   • February 18, 1666, Samuel Pepys,, diary entry

     It being a brave day, I walked to Whitehall.

3. Making a fine show or display.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

     Their plumed helmes are wrought with beaten golde,
     Their ſwords enameld, and about their neckes
     Hangs maſſie chaines of golde downe to the waſte,
     In euery part exceding braue and rich.

   • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv]:

     Wear my dagger with the braver grace.

   • 1611, John Cooke, Greene's Tu Quoque:

     For I have gold, and therefore will be brave. / In silks I'll rattle it of every color.

   • 1867, Ralph Waldo Emerson, May-Day:

     Frog and lizard in holiday coats / And turtle brave in his golden spots.

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     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.

4. (UK, euphemistic) Foolish or unwise.

   Synonym: courageous

Synonyms

• (courageous): See also Thesaurus:brave

Derived terms

• brave as a lion
• bravely
• braveness
• brave new world
• bravity
• fortune favors the brave
• fortune favours the brave
• put a brave face on
• put on a brave face
• stunning and brave

 

Related terms

• bravo
• bravura

 

Translations

strong in the face of fear

• Afrikaans: dapper (af), braaf
• Albanian: i guximshëm (sq)
• Arabic: شُجَاع (ar) (šujāʕ), جَرِيء (jarīʔ), جَسُور (jasūr)

  Egyptian Arabic: شجيع (šagīʕ)

• Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: քաջ (hy) (kʻaǰ)
• Aromanian: gioni
• Asturian: bravu (ast), valiente
• Azerbaijani: cəsur (az), mərd (az), comərd, ürəkli (az)
• Bashkir: батыр (batır), ҡыйыу (qıyıw)
• Basque: ausart
• Belarusian: хра́бры (xrábry), адва́жны (be) (advážny), сме́лы (be) (smjély)
• Bengali: সাহসী (bn) (śahośi)
• Breton: kaloneg
• Bulgarian: хра́бър (bg) (hrábǎr), смел (bg) (smel)
• Burmese: ရဲရင့် (my) (rai:rang.), သတ္တိကောင်း (my) (satti.kaung:)
• Catalan: valent (ca), coratjós, audaç (ca)
• Chechen: майра (majra)
• Cherokee: ᏧᎵᏨᏯᏍᏗ (tsulitsvyasdi)
• Chinese:

  Gan: ^{(please verify)} 勇敢 (iûng-gôn), ^{(please verify)} 有量 (îu liòng), ^{(please verify)} 猛 (mûng), ^{(please verify)} 敢 (gon³), ^{(please verify)} 俹／𱎫 (ngâ)

  Mandarin: 勇敢 (zh) (yǒnggǎn)

• Czech: odvážný (cs) m, statečný (cs) m
• Danish: modig (da)
• Dutch: moedig (nl)
• Esperanto: brava, kuraĝa (eo)
• Estonian: vapper, vahva (et), julge (et)
• Faroese: djarvur m
• Finnish: rohkea (fi), urhea (fi), reipas (fi)
• French: courageux (fr)
• Friulian: di fiât
• Galician: bravo (gl), valente
• Georgian: გამბედავი (gambedavi), მამაცი (mamaci), გულადი (guladi), გაბედული (gabeduli), ვაჟკაცი (važḳaci), გულოვანი (gulovani)
• German: tapfer (de), mutig (de)
• Greek: γενναίος (el) (gennaíos), θαρραλέος (el) (tharraléos)

  Ancient: ἀνδρεῖος (andreîos), θρασύς (thrasús)

• Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
• Haitian Creole: brav
• Hausa: please add this translation if you can
• Hawaiian: koa
• Hebrew: אַמִּיץ (he) m (amitz), אמיצה f (amitza)
• Hindi: बहादुर (hi) (bahādur), व्यकित m (vyakit)
• Hungarian: bátor (hu)
• Icelandic: hugrakkur (is)
• Ido: brava (io), kurajoza (io)
• Igbo: ebube (ig)
• Indonesian: berani (id)
• Ingush: майра (majra)
• Interlingua: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: calma, misniúil, cróga, móruchtúil, fearúil
• Italian: coraggioso (it), ardito (it), baldo (it), audace (it), valoroso (it), impavido (it)
• Japanese: 勇敢な (ja) (ゆうかんな, yūkan na), 勇気ある (ja) (ゆうきある, yūki aru) (used as adnominal only), 勇猛な (ja) (ゆうもうな, yūmō na), 雄々しい (おおしい, ooshii)
• Javanese: wani
• Kannada: please add this translation if you can
• Kazakh: ержүрек (erjürek), батыл (batyl), батыр (batyr), дәділ (dädıl)
• Khmer: ក្លាហាន (km) (klaa haan)
• Korean: 용감하다 (ko) (yonggamhada)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ئازا (ckb) (aza), قارەمان (qareman)

• Kyrgyz: кайраттуу (ky) (kayrattuu), жүрөктүү (ky) (jüröktüü), батымдуу (batımduu)
• Ladino: korajozo
• Lao: ກຳແຫງ (kam ngǣ), ກ້າຫານ (kā hān), ກ້າ (lo) (kā)
• Latin: animosus, fortis (la), magnanimus
• Latvian: drosmīgs, drošs (lv)
• Lithuanian: drąsus (lt)
• Luxembourgish: daper, couragéiert
• Macedonian: хра́бар (hrábar), смел (smel)
• Malay: berani
• Malayalam: ധീര (ml) (dhīra), ധൈര്യമുള്ള (dhairyamuḷḷa)
• Maltese: kuraġġuż
• Manchu: ᠪᠠᡨᡠ᠋ᡵᡠ (baturu)
• Maori: hautoa, māia, toa (mi)
• Marathi: चातुर्य (cāturya)
• Middle English: doughty
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian: эрэлхэг (mn) (erelxeg), зоригтой (mn) (zorigtoj)
• Norman: brave
• Norwegian: modig (no)
• Occitan: coratjós (oc), valent (oc)
• Odia: please add this translation if you can
• Ojibwe: (to be brave, strong-hearted) zoongide'e
• Old English: beald
• Old Javanese: wani
• Ottawa: (to be brave, strong-hearted) aakde'e, zoongde'e
• Ottoman Turkish: قوچاق (koçak)
• Pashto: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: شجاع (fa) (šojâ'), دلیر (fa) (delir), نیو (fa) (niv)
• Plautdietsch: brow
• Polish: odważny (pl) m, chrobry (pl), dzielny (pl) m
• Portuguese: bravo (pt), valente (pt), corajoso (pt)
• Punjabi: please add this translation if you can
• Rajasthani: please add this translation if you can
• Romanian: curajos (ro), brav (ro)
• Russian: хра́брый (ru) (xrábryj), сме́лый (ru) (smélyj), отва́жный (ru) (otvážnyj), бесстра́шный (ru) (besstrášnyj), бра́вый (ru) (brávyj)
• Scots: wicht
• Scottish Gaelic: misneachail, tapaidh
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: храбар

  Roman: hrabar (sh)

• Sicilian: curaggiusu (scn)
• Sindhi: please add this translation if you can
• Sinhalese: please add this translation if you can
• Slovak: odvážny, statočný
• Slovene: pogumen (sl) m, hraber m
• Somali: geesi (so)
• Southern Altai: јӱректӱ (ǰürektü)
• Spanish: valiente (es), valeroso (es), corajudo (es)
• Swahili: jasiri
• Swedish: modig (sv)
• Tagalog: matapang
• Tajik: шуҷоъ (šujoʾ), далер (tg) (daler), диловар (dilovar), шуҷоатманд (šujoatmand)
• Tamil: தைரியசாலி (ta) (tairiyacāli)
• Telugu: ధైర్యమైన (te) (dhairyamaina)
• Thai: กล้าหาญ (th) (glâa-hǎan), กล้า (th) (glâa)
• Tibetan: བློ་ཁོག་ཆེན་པོ (blo khog chen po), དཔའ་བོ (dpa' bo)
• Turkish: cesur (tr), mert (tr), korkusuz (tr), yürekli (tr), cesaretli (tr)
• Turkmen: batyr (tk), mert
• Tuvan: эккер-эрес (ekker-eres), кайгал (kaygal), дидим (didim)
• Ukrainian: хоро́брий (xoróbryj), відва́жний (vidvážnyj), сміли́вий (uk) (smilývyj)
• Urdu: بهادر (bahādur)
• Uyghur: باتۇر (ug) (batur), قورقماس (qorqmas), جەسۇر (jesur), مەرد (merd)
• Uzbek: jasur (uz), mard (uz), botir (uz), dovyurak (uz)
• Vietnamese: dũng cảm (vi) (勇敢 (vi)), mạnh dạn (vi), mạnh bạo (vi), gan dạ (vi)
• Volapük: kuradik (vo)
• Walloon: coraedjeus (wa) m, bråve (wa) m, franc (wa) m
• Welsh: dewr (cy), gwrdd, gwrol (cy), eofn (cy), glew (cy)
• Yiddish: העלדיש (heldish), מוטיק (mutik)
• Zulu: -nesibindi

(obsolete) having any sort of superiority or excellence

• Russian: дивный (ru) (divnyj)

Noun

brave (plural braves)

1. (dated) A Native American warrior.
2. (obsolete) A man daring beyond discretion; a bully.
   • 1674 (date written), John Dryden, The State of Innocence, and Fall of Man: An Opera. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1677, →OCLC, Act I, page 6:

     Hot Braves, like thee, may fight; but know not well / To manage this, the laſt great Stake of Hell.

3. (obsolete) A challenge; a defiance; bravado.
   • c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

     Demetrius, thou dost overween in all; / And so in this, to bear me down with braves.

Translations

native American warrior

• Finnish: intiaanisoturi
• German: Krieger (de) m
• Russian: инде́йский во́ин m (indéjskij vóin)

Etymology 2

From Middle French braver, from brave.

Verb

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, to provoke.
   • 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     For Cassius is aweary of the world;
     Hated by one he loves; braved by his brother;
     Checked like a bondman; all his faults observed,
     Set in a notebook, learned, and conned by rote,
     To cast into my teeth.

   • 1665 (first performance), John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, or, The Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for H[enry] Herringman […], published 1667, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     The ills of Love, not those of Fate, I fear,
     These I can brave, but those I cannot 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.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]:

     Face not me. Thou hast braved many men; brave
     not me. I will neither be faced nor braved.

     addressed to a tailor; first use in sense of "adorn", second and third uses in sense of "confront"

Derived terms

• brave out
• braver
• outbrave

 

Related terms

• bravado
• bravery

 

Translations

to encounter with courage

• Cebuano: sungasong
• Finnish: uhmata (fi), kohdata rohkeasti
• German: trotzen (de)
• Hindi: लोहा लेना (lohā lenā, literally “to take iron”)
• Indonesian: menerjang (id)
• Irish: tabhair dúshlán
• Slovak: zdolať, zvládnuť

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Bulgarian: ^{(please verify)} излизам насреща на (izlizam nasrešta na), ^{(please verify)} предизвиквам (bg) (predizvikvam)

Anagrams

• Baver

Esperanto

Etymology 1

brava +‎ -e

Adverb

brave

1. bravely, valiantly

Etymology 2

From Italian bravo.

Interjection

brave

1. bravo

French

Etymology

Probably borrowed from Italian bravo. Compare Spanish, Portuguese bravo. Doublet of bravo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bʁav/

• audio

  (file)

Adjective

brave (plural braves)

1. brave
2. honest

Synonyms

• courageux
• bon
• honnête
• preux

Noun

brave m (plural braves)

1. hero

Related terms

Related terms

• bravache
• bravade
• bravement
• braver
• bravoure

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• baver

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːvə

Adjective

brave

1. inflection of brav:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

brave f pl

1. feminine plural of bravo

Anagrams

• breva

Norman

Etymology

From Late Latin *bravus.

Adjective

brave m or f

1. brave

Derived terms

• bravement (“bravely”)

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

brave

1. definite singular/plural of brav

Pali

Alternative forms

Alternative forms

• 𑀩𑁆𑀭𑀯𑁂 (Brahmi script)
• ब्रवे (Devanagari script)
• ব্রৰে (Bengali script)
• බ්‍රවෙ (Sinhalese script)
• ဗြဝေ or ၿြဝေ (Burmese script)
• พฺรเว or พระเว (Thai script)
• ᨻᩕᩅᩮ (Tai Tham script)
• ພ຺ຣເວ or ພຣະເວ (Lao script)
• ព្រវេ (Khmer script)
• 𑄝𑄳𑄢𑅇𑄬 (Chakma script)

Verb

brave

1. first-person singular present/imperative middle of brūti (“to say”)