bravo

See also: bravó, bravò, and Bravo

Translingual

Noun

bravo

1. Alternative letter-case form of Bravo of the ICAO/NATO radiotelephony alphabet.

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian bravo. Doublet of brave.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɑvoʊ/, /bɹɑˈvoʊ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹɑːvəʊ/, /bɹɑːˈvəʊ/
• Rhymes: -ɑːvəʊ, Rhymes: -əʊ

• Audio (Canada):

  (file)

Noun

bravo (plural bravos or bravoes or bravi)

1. (plural "bravi") A hired soldier; an assassin; a desperado.
   • 1753, Theophilus Cibber, The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753)‎^[1]:

     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^[2]:

     "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, published 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^[3]:

     There was a roar of bravoes rang through the house; Pen bellowing with the loudest.

3. (international standards, plural "bravos") Alternative letter-case form of Bravo from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.

Synonyms

• (hired soldier): see Thesaurus:mercenary

Interjection

bravo!

1. Used to express acclaim, especially to a performer.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:well done

   Bravo, you have done a brilliant job!

Usage notes

Sometimes the (non-anglicized) Italian feminine form brava is used for a woman or girl, and the Italian plural forms brave f pl are used for female referents only, and bravi m pl are used for male only or two or more male and female referents.

Related terms

• brava
• bravissimo

Translations

interjection

• Arabic: بْرَافُو (brāvo), بِرَافُو (birāvo)

  Egyptian Arabic: براڤو (brāvo, barāvu), عفارم (ʕafārem) (archaic)

• Armenian: բրավո (hy) (bravo), կեցցե (hy) (kecʻcʻe)
• Assamese: বাঃ (bah), চাবাচ (sabas)
• Bengali: শাবাশ (bn) (śabaś)
• Danish: bravo
• Esperanto: brave (eo)
• Finnish: hyvä (fi)
• French: bravo (fr)
• Georgian: ყოჩაღ (ka) (q̇očaɣ)
• Greek: μπράβο (el) (brávo)

  Ancient: πύππαξ (púppax)

• Hindi: शाबाश (hi) (śābāś)
• Italian: bravo (it) m, bene (it), ben fatto!
• Japanese: 天晴れ (ja) (appare), ブラボー (ja) (burabō)
• Latin: mactē
• Latvian: bravo
• Malay: mantap (ms)
• Marathi: शाबास (śābās), शाब्बास (śābbās)
• Persian: براوو (fa) (brâvo)
• Polish: brawo (pl)
• Portuguese: bravo (pt)
• Romanian: bravo (ro)
• Russian: бра́во (ru) (brávo)
• Sanskrit: साधु (sa) (sādhu)
• Spanish: bravo (es)
• Swedish: bravo (sv)
• Vietnamese: hoan hô (vi)
• Yiddish: בראַוואָ (bravo)

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

• Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} ئافەرین (aferîn), ^{(please verify)} ئافەریم (aferîm)

Verb

bravo (third-person singular simple present bravos or bravoes, 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^[4]:

     "And my Sunbeam was bravoed, and encored, and crowned with flowers, was she not?"

   • 1899, Richard Le Gallienne, Young Lives‎^[5]:

     Together they had bravoed the great tragedians, and together hopelessly worshipped the beautiful faces, enskied and sainted, of famous actresses.

Asturian

Adjective

bravo

1. neuter of bravu

Finnish

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrɑʋo(ː)/, [ˈbrɑ̝ʋo̞(ː)]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbrɑˈʋo(ː)/, [ˈbrɑ̝ˈʋo̞(ː)]
• IPA^(key): /ˈbrɑːʋo/, [ˈbrɑ̝ːʋo̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑʋo
• Hyphenation^(key): bra‧vo

Interjection

bravo

1. bravo

Further reading

• “bravo”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[6] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-12-12

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian bravo. Doublet of brave.

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

   Synonym: spadassin

Related terms

• bravache
• bravade
• brave
• bravement
• braver
• bravoure

 

Further reading

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

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɾabo/ [ˈbɾa.β̞ʊ]
• Rhymes: -abo
• Hyphenation: bra‧vo

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese bravo, from Latin barbarus, which was frequently found in Galician medieval Latin documentation with the meaning of "uncultivated, fallow". Alternatively from Vulgar Latin *bravus or *brabus, from a fusion of Latin prāvus and barbarus.

Adjective

bravo (feminine 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)

   Synonym: ventureiro

3. wild, untamed (when referring to an animal)

   Synonym: salvaxe

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

   Synonym: fero

5. strong (when referring to a beverage) or hot spicy

   Synonym: forte

6. bold, valiant

   Synonyms: afouto, arriscado, valente

Derived terms

• besta brava (“wild horse”)
• Bravos
• faneca brava (“lesser weever”)
• porco bravo (“wild pig”)

 

Related terms

• bravádego (“copse”)
• braveiro (“sprout”)
• braveza (“braveness”)
• bravío (“wild”)
• bravún (“the odor of a wild animal”)
• bravura (“braveness”)
• embravecer (“to infuriate”)

 

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Interjection

bravo!

1. bravo!

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “bravo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “bravo”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “bravo”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “bravo”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Indonesian

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbra.vo/, [ˈbra.fo]
• Rhymes: -vo
• Hyphenation: bra‧vo

Interjection

bravo

1. bravo, well done!, good show!

   Synonym: syabas

Further reading

• “bravo” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Italian

Etymology

Uncertain. Probably from Vulgar Latin *bravus, from a fusion of Latin prāvus and barbarus. Less likely from Provençal brau (“show-off”), from Gaulish *bragos (compare Middle Irish breagha (modern breá) 'fine', Breton braga 'to strut'). Or perhaps borrowed from a descendant of Proto-Germanic *hrawaz (“raw, uncooked”). Or possibly from a root *bravus, from bravium. Borrowed into French and English as brave.

Pierre Carpentier, in an 18th-century edition of du Cange's 17th-century dictionary of medieval and modern Latin, argued Latin branus originated in a misreading of Italian and Spanish bravo. However, George Nicholson argues the opposite in a 1950 Festschrift article, namely bravo being a misreading of Latin branus, which would have the origin du Cange had originally argued for, from Old French brahaigne (“barren”) (see barren). Compare English gravy, possibly a misreading of French grané (“stew”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbra.vo/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -avo
• Hyphenation: brà‧vo

Adjective

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

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

Related terms

• bravaccio
• bravamente
• bravare
• bravata
• bravazzo
• braveria
• bravino
• brav'uomo
• bravura

 

Noun

bravo m (plural bravi)

1. henchman

Interjection

bravo m (feminine brava, masculine plural bravi, feminine plural brave)

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

Descendants

• → English: bravo
• → French: bravo
• → Romanian: bravo
• → Turkish: bravo

Portuguese

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.vu/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.vu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.vo/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.vu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.vu/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbɾa.bu/ [ˈbɾa.βu]

• Rhymes: -avu, (Northern Portugal) -abu
• Hyphenation: bra‧vo

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese bravo, possibly from Vulgar Latin *bravus or *brabus, from a fusion of Latin prāvus and barbarus.

Alternative forms

• brabo (regionalism)

Adjective

bravo (feminine brava, masculine plural bravos, feminine plural bravas, comparable, comparative mais bravo, superlative o mais bravo or bravíssimo, diminutive bravinho, augmentative bravão)

1. angry; furious, annoyed

   Synonyms: furioso, irado, raivoso, enraivecido

   Fico bravo quando você entra sem bater.

   I get angry when you enter without knocking first.

2. brave; valiant, courageous

   Synonyms: valente, destemido, corajoso

3. coarse; uneducated, uncivilized

   Synonyms: bárbaro, rude, grosseiro

4. prone to irritation, easily angered, bad-tempered, choleric

   Synonyms: genioso, irritadiço

5. rigorous, authoritarian

   Synonyms: rígido, rigoroso, severo

6. difficult, unmanageable (of a person or situation)

   Synonyms: ruço, difícil

7. undomesticated (of an animal)

   Synonyms: bravio, silvestre

8. spontaneous, weed (of a plant or vegetable)

   Synonym: espontâneo

9. uncultivated (of the land)

   Synonyms: bravio, inculto

10. stormy (of the sea)

    Synonym: tempestuoso

11. (Brazil, slang) a term akin to English dope, hard; meaning cool or good, usually with an aggressive connotation

Derived terms

• bravamente
• braveza
• bravio
• bravura
• coelho-bravo
• embravecer
• mandioca-brava

 

Noun

bravo m (plural bravos)

1. (Brazil) a certain part of an oxcart
2. (North Brazil) a neophyte to rubber tapping, a novice seringueiro

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Interjection

bravo!

1. bravo! well done!

   Bravo! Você acertou!

   Bravo! You got it right!

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French bravo or Italian bravo.

Interjection

bravo

1. bravo

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɾabo/ [ˈbɾa.β̞o]
• Rhymes: -abo
• Syllabification: bra‧vo

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Spanish bravo, possibly from Vulgar Latin *bravus or *brabus, from a fusion of Latin prāvus and barbarus (or from metathesis of an intermediate form *babru-).

Adjective

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

1. angry, furious

   Synonyms: enojado, enfadado, fiero, mañoso

2. bold, courageous

   Synonym: valiente

3. skilful, capable, clever, fine
4. good, excellent
5. agitated (sea)
6. wild (animal)

   Synonym: salvaje

Derived terms

• a la brava
• barra brava
• bravamente
• Bravos de Atlanta
• encino bravo
• ganso bravo
• lino bravo
• patatas bravas
• picha brava
• salsa brava
• toro bravo

 

Related terms

• bravear
• bravero
• braveza
• bravío
• bravucón
• bravura
• desbravar
• embravecer

 

Descendants

• → Belizean Creole: braabo, braabu

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Interjection

¡bravo!

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

Further reading

• “bravo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Swedish

Etymology

Internationalism, from Italian bravo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrɑːvʊ/
• Rhymes: -¹ɑːvʊ

Interjection

bravo

1. bravo

Derived terms

• bravorop

Related terms

• bravur

References

• bravo in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bravo in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• bravo in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Ottoman Turkish براوو, from Italian bravo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b(ɯ)ɾɑ.vo/

Interjection

bravo!

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