bravo

See also: bravó, bravò, and Bravo

English

Etymology

From Italian bravo.

Pronunciation

Noun

bravo (plural bravos or bravoes)

  1. A hired soldier; an assassin; a desperado.
    • 1753, Theophilus Cibber, The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753)‎:
      As for Rochester, he had not genius enough to enter the lists with Dryden, so he fell upon another method of revenge; and meanly hired bravoes to assault him.
    • 1911, H. Rider Haggard, Red Eve‎:
      "Why should I fight the King of England's bravoes?" inquired Acour in a languid voice of those who stood about him, a question at which they laughed.
    • 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin 2010, page 104:
      Because the headache will always be there, a weapon that never wears out and is as deadly as the bravo’s rapier or Lucrezia's poison vial.
  2. A shout of "bravo!"
    • 1907, Kate Dickinson Sweetser, Boys and girls from Thackeray‎:
      There was a roar of bravoes rang through the house; Pen bellowing with the loudest.
  3. The letter B in the ICAO spelling alphabet.

Synonyms

  • (hired soldier): see Thesaurus:mercenary

Translations

Interjection

bravo!

  1. Used to express acclaim, especially to a performer.
    Bravo, you have done a brilliant job!

Usage notes

Sometimes the (non-anglicized) Italian female form brava is used for a woman, and the Italian plural forms brave (feminine) and bravi (masculine or mixed).

Synonyms

  • See Thesaurus:well done

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Verb

bravo (third-person singular simple present bravos, present participle bravoing, simple past and past participle bravoed)

  1. To cheer or applaud, especially by saying bravo!
    • 1910, May Agnes Fleming, The Baronet's Bride‎:
      "And my Sunbeam was bravoed, and encored, and crowned with flowers, was she not?"
    • 1899, Richard Le Gallienne, Young Lives‎:
      Together they had bravoed the great tragedians, and together hopelessly worshipped the beautiful faces, enskied and sainted, of famous actresses.

French

Etymology

From Italian bravo, a fusion of Latin prāvus and barbarus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bʁa.vo/
  • Audio(file)

Interjection

bravo

  1. bravo!, hear, hear!, well said!, well done!

Noun

bravo m (plural bravos)

  1. (in the plural) applause, cheers
  2. swordsman

Synonyms

Further reading

Galician

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɾaβo̝/

Etymology 1

From Latin barbarus,[1] which was frequently found in local medieval Latin documentation with the meaning of uncultivated.

Adjective

bravo m (feminine singular brava, masculine plural bravos, feminine plural bravas)

  1. uncultivated, harsh, rough (when referring to a land)
    • 1334, M. Lucas Alvarez & P. P. Lucas Domínguez (eds. ), San Pedro de Ramirás. Un monasterio femenino en la Edad Media. Santiago: Caixa Galicia, page 487:
      et nos dedes delle en cada ano terça do pan e do viño, e de lino e de liguma do feytuo, e do monte bravo que aromperdes
      and you'll give us each year a third of the grain and of the wine, of the flax, and of the pulses, and of the uncultivated lands that you could plough up
  2. wild, spontaneous (when referring to a plant)
  3. wild, untamed (when referring to an animal)
  4. harsh, fierce
    • 1364, Clara Rodríguez Núñez (ed.), "Santa María de Belvís, un convento mendicante femenino en la Baja Edad Media (1305-1400)", Estudios Mindonienses, 5, page 441:
      son ende quatro boys, dous bravos et dous massos
      there are four oxen: two are fierce and two are meek
  5. strong (when referring to a beverage) or hot spicy
  6. bold, valiant
Synonyms
Derived terms
  • besta brava (“wild horse”)
  • porco bravo (“wild pig”)
  • faneca brava (“lesser weever”)
  • braveiro (“sprout”)
  • braveza (“braveness”)
  • bravío (“wild”)
  • bravún (“the odour of a wild animal”)
  • bravura (“braveness”)
  • embravecer (“to infuriate”)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Interjection

bravo!

  1. bravo!

References

  1. ↑ Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1991–1997). Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico. Madrid: Gredos, s.v. bravo.

Italian

Etymology

From a fusion of Latin prāvus and barbarus; or else misread from Latin brana, from Old French brahaigne, "barren".[1] French and English brave derived from it. Also possibly from a root *bravus, from bravium.

Adjective

bravo (feminine singular brava, masculine plural bravi, feminine plural brave) (superlative bravissimo)

  1. (used before the noun) good, well-behaved
  2. good, skilful, capable, clever, fine
  3. good, obedient
  4. (obsolete) brave, bold
  5. (obsolete, of animals) wild, untamed
  6. (obsolete, of places) harsh

Interjection

bravo! m (f brava!, m pl bravi!, f pl brave!)

  1. well done!, good show!
  2. (theater) bravo!

References

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese bravo, from a fusion of Latin prāvus and barbarus.

Adjective

bravo m (feminine singular brava, masculine plural bravos, feminine plural bravas, comparable)

  1. valiant, courageous
  2. uneducated, uncivilized
  3. furious, annoyed
  4. prone to irritation, easily angered, bad-tempered, choleric
  5. rigorous, authoritarian
  6. (of a person, or situation) difficult, unmanageable
  7. (of an animal) undomesticated
  8. (of a plant, or vegetable) spontaneous, weed
  9. (of the land) uncultivated
  10. (of the sea) stormy
  11. (hypercorrect) Alternative form of brabo
Inflection
Synonyms

Derived terms

Descendants

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Interjection

bravo!

  1. bravo! well done!

Spanish

Etymology

Fusion of Latin prāvus and barbarus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɾabo/, [ˈbɾaβo]

Adjective

bravo (feminine singular brava, masculine plural bravos, feminine plural bravas) (superlative bravísimo)

  1. angry, furious
  2. bold, courageous
  3. skilful, capable, clever, fine
  4. good, excellent
  5. agitated (sea)

Synonyms

Interjection

¡bravo! (feminine singular ¡brava!, masculine plural ¡bravos!, feminine plural ¡bravas!)

  1. (in general use) well done!, good show!
  2. (at the theatre, etc) bravo!
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