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English
Pronunciation
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)
- Strong in the face of fear; courageous.
- Synonyms: bold, daring, doughty, orped, resilient, stalwart, plucky
- Antonyms: cowardly, fearful, mean, weak
1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →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.
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.
- (obsolete) Having any sort of superiority or excellence.
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [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?
- 18 February 1666, Samuel Pepys, diary entry:
- It being a brave day, I walked to Whitehall.
- Making a fine show or display.
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [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.
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.
- (UK, euphemistic) Foolish or unwise.
- Synonym: courageous
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
- Afrikaans: dapper (af), braaf
- Albanian: i guximshëm (sq), trim
- Altai:
- Southern Altai: јӱректӱ (ǰürektü)
- Arabic: شُجَاع (ar) (šujāʕ), جَرِيء (jarīʔ), جَسُور (jasūr)
- Egyptian Arabic: شجيع (šagīʕ)
- Hijazi Arabic: شجاع (šujāʕ), جريء (jarīʔ)
- Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
- Armenian: քաջ (hy) (kʻaǰ)
- Aromanian: gioni
- Asturian: bravu (ast), valiente, coraxosu
- Azerbaijani: cəsur (az), mərd (az), comərd, ürəkli (az)
- Bashkir: батыр (batïr), ҡыйыу (qïyïw)
- Basque: ausart
- Belarusian: хра́бры (xrábry), адва́жны (be) (advážny), сме́лы (be) (smjély)
- Bengali: সাহসী (bn) (śahośi)
- Breton: kaloneg
- Bulgarian: хра́бър (bg) (hrábăr), 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), urhoollinen (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 Greek: 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 (jv)
- Old Javanese: wani
- Kannada: please add this translation if you can
- Kazakh: ержүрек (erjürek), батыл (batıl), батыр (batır), дәділ (dädil)
- 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)
- Māori: hautoa, māia, toa (mi)
- Marathi: चातुर्य (cāturya)
- Middle English: doughty
- Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
- Mongolian: эрэлхэг (mn) (erelxeg), зоригтой (mn) (zorigtoi)
- 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
- Ottawa: (to be brave, strong-hearted) aakde'e, zoongde'e
- Pacoh: préinh
- 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), bravio (pt)
- Punjabi: 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)
- Sanskrit: वीर (sa) (vīra)
- Scots: wicht
- Scottish Gaelic: misneachail, tapaidh
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: храбар
- Latin: 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)
- Spanish: bravo (es)
- Swahili: jasiri (sw)
- Swedish: modig (sv), tapper (sv)
- Tagalog: matapang
- Tajik: шуҷоъ (šujo'), 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)
- Ottoman Turkish: قوچاق (koçak)
- Turkmen: batyr (tk), mert
- Tuvan: эккер-эрес (ekker-eres), кайгал (kaygal), дидим (didim)
- Ukrainian: хоро́брий (xoróbryj), відва́жний (vidvážnyj), сміли́вий (uk) (smilývyj)
- Unami: ilamàlsi (animate)
- Urdu: بَہَادُر (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), quả cảm (vi), gan góc (vi)
- Volapük: kuradik (vo)
- Walloon: coraedjeus (wa) m, bråve (wa) m, franc (wa) m
- Welsh: dewr (cy), gwrdd, gwrol (cy), eofn (cy), glew (cy)
- Woiwurrung: ngabun-bambuñ
- Yiddish: העלדיש (heldish), מוטיק (mutik)
- Zulu: -nesibindi
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(obsolete) having any sort of superiority or excellence Noun
brave (plural braves)
- (dated) A Native American warrior.
- (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.
1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter LVII, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, pages 414–415:In no other land, in modern times, have towns so absolutely died and disappeared, as in the old mining regions of California. […] For, observe, it was an assemblage of two hundred thousand young men—not simpering, dainty, kid-gloved weaklings, but stalwart, muscular, dauntless young braves, brimful of push and energy, and royally endowed with every attribute that goes to make up a peerless and magnificent manhood—the very pick and choice of the world's glorious ones.
- (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
Etymology 2
From Middle French braver, from brave.[1]
Verb
brave (third-person singular simple present braves, present participle braving, simple past and past participle braved)
- (transitive) To encounter or withstand with courage and fortitude, to defy, to provoke.
After braving tricks on the high-dive, he braved a jump off the first diving platform. He braved the storm and spent the night outside. In the morning, he braved his parents' wrath.
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.
- (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
Related terms
Translations
to encounter with courage
- Albanian: Trimerisht
- Bulgarian: осмелявам се impf (osmeljavam se), осмеля се pf (osmelja se), посмявам (bg) impf (posmjavam), посмея pf (posmeja), предизвиквам (bg) (predizvikvam), (please verify) излизам насреща на (izlizam nasrešta na)
- Cebuano: sungasong
- Czech: čelit (cs), postavit se (cs) pf, odvážně čelit, vzdorovat (cs) impf, stavět se čelem impf
- 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
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References
Anagrams
Czech
Pronunciation
Noun
brave
- vocative of brav
Esperanto
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbrave/
- Rhymes: -ave
- Syllabification: bra‧ve
Etymology 1
From brava + -e.
Adverb
brave
- bravely, valiantly
Etymology 2
Derived from Italian bravo.
Interjection
brave
- bravo
Further reading
French
Etymology
Probably borrowed from Italian bravo. Compare Spanish, Portuguese bravo. Doublet of bravo.
Pronunciation
Adjective
brave (plural braves)
- brave
- honest
Synonyms
Descendants
Noun
brave m (plural braves)
- hero
Related terms
Further reading
Anagrams
German
Pronunciation
Adjective
brave
- inflection of brav:
- strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
- strong nominative/accusative plural
- weak nominative all-gender singular
- weak accusative feminine/neuter singular
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbra.ve/
- Rhymes: -ave
- Hyphenation: brà‧ve
Adjective
brave f pl
- feminine plural of bravo
Anagrams
Norman
Etymology
From Late Latin *bravus.
Adjective
brave m or f
- brave
Derived terms
Norwegian Bokmål
Adjective
brave
- definite singular/plural of brav
Pali
Alternative forms
Verb
brave
- first-person singular present/imperative middle of brūti (“to say”)
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