bravery

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French braverie, from braver (“to brave”), or Italian braveria, from bravare (“to brave”). By surface analysis, brave +‎ -ery.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹeɪ.və.ɹi/, /ˈbɹeɪv.ɹi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪvəɹi, -eɪvɹi

Noun

bravery (usually uncountable, plural braveries)

1. (usually uncountable) Being brave, courageousness.
   • 2025 November 12, Philip Haigh, “High praise for rail staff's courage and clear thinking”, in RAIL, number 1048, page 50:

     Huntingdon's ferocity makes the reaction of staff all the more brave. To move towards danger when others are fleeing is the definition of bravery in my book. To place yourself in danger to protect others.

2. (countable, rare) A brave act.
3. Splendor, magnificence.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 34”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

     Why didst thou promise such a beauteous day,
     And make me travel forth without my cloak,
     To let base clouds o'ertake me in my way,
     Hiding thy brav'ry in their rotten smoke?

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 3:18:

     In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon

Synonyms

• (being brave): bravehood, braveness, courageousness, fearlessness; courage, pluck, valor; see also Thesaurus:courage

Derived terms

• overbravery

Related terms

• bravado
• brave
• bravure

Translations

being brave

• Afrikaans: dapperheid
• Albanian: guxim (sq) m, trimëri (sq) f
• Arabic: شَجَاعَة (ar) f (šajāʕa)
• Armenian: քաջություն (hy) (kʻaǰutʻyun), արիություն (hy) (ariutʻyun), խիզախություն (hy) (xizaxutʻyun)
• Asturian: bravura f, braveza f
• Azerbaijani: cəsarət (az), igidlik
• Belarusian: сме́ласць f (smjélascʹ), хра́брасць f (xrábrascʹ), адва́га f (adváha)
• Bengali: বাহাদুরি (bn) (bahaduri), কেরদানী (bn) (kerdani)
• Bulgarian: сме́лост (bg) f (smélost), хра́брост (bg) f (hrábrost)
• Burmese: ရဲစွမ်းသတ္တိ (my) (rai:cwam:satti.)
• Catalan: bravesa f, bravor f, bravura f, valor (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 勇敢 (zh) (yǒnggǎn)

• Czech: statečnost (cs) f, odvaha (cs) f
• Danish: mod (da) n, tapperhed (da) c
• Dutch: moed (nl) f, dapperheid (nl) f
• Estonian: vaprus (et)
• Faroese: mót n, dirvi n
• Finnish: rohkeus (fi)
• French: courage (fr) m
• Galician: bravura f, braveza f
• Georgian: სიმამაცე (simamace), ვაჟკაცობა (važḳacoba)
• German: Tapferkeit (de) f
• Greek: ανδρεία (el) f (andreía)

  Ancient Greek: θάρσος n (thársos), ἀνδρεία f (andreía)

• Hindi: बहादुरी (hi) f (bahādurī), वीरता (hi) f (vīrtā)
• Icelandic: hugrekki (is) n
• Ido: braveso (io)
• Indonesian: keberanian (id)
• Irish: crógacht f
• Japanese: 勇気 (ja) (ゆうき, yūki), 剛勇 (ja) (ごうゆう, gōyū)
• Khmer: សេចក្ដីក្លាហាន (səchkdəy klaa haan)
• Korean: 용감성 (yonggamseong), 용감 (ko) (yonggam), 용기 (ko) (yonggi)
• Latin: mīlitia f
• Latvian: drosme f
• Lithuanian: drąsà (lt) f
• Macedonian: храброст f (hrabrost), смелост f (smelost)
• Malayalam: ധീരത (ml) (dhīrata)
• Maltese: please add this translation if you can
• Māori: hautoa, māia, toa (mi)
• Marathi: शौर्य n (śaurya), शूरता f (śūrtā), बहाद्दरी f (bahāddarī)
• Middle English: douȝtines
• Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: mot (no) n, tapperhet m

• Occitan: bravesa f
• Old English: ellen
• Persian: شجاعت (fa) (šajâ'at)
• Polish: odwaga (pl) f, śmiałość (pl) f
• Portuguese: bravura (pt) f, braveza (pt) f
• Romanian: bravură (ro) f, curaj (ro) n, bărbăție (ro) f
• Russian: хра́брость (ru) f (xrábrostʹ), сме́лость (ru) f (smélostʹ), отва́га (ru) f (otvága)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: храброст f, смелост f

  Latin: hrabrost (sh) f, smelost f

• Slovak: statočnosť f, odvaha f
• Slovene: pogum (sl) m, hrabrost f
• Spanish: valor (es) m, braveza f, bravura (es) f
• Swahili: ujasiri (sw)
• Swedish: tapperhet (sv) c
• Tamil: please add this translation if you can
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: cesaret (tr), cesurluk (tr), yiğitlik (tr)
• Ukrainian: хоро́брість f (xoróbristʹ), сміли́вість (uk) f (smilývistʹ), відва́га f (vidváha)
• Urdu: بَہادَری f (bahādarī), شُجاعَت f (śujā‘at)
• Vietnamese: sự dũng cảm (vi)

brave act

• Czech: odvážný čin
• Hindi: वीरता (hi) f (vīrtā)
• Ido: bravajo (io)
• Persian: شجاعت (fa) (šojâ'at), دلاوری (fa) (delâvari)
• Russian: сме́лый посту́пок m (smélyj postúpok)