brav

Borrowed from Middle French brave, from Italian bravo, from Medieval Latin *bravus, from a conflation of Latin pravus with barbarus. Cognate with Welsh braf.

brav

1. beautiful

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *borvъ.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbraf]

brav m inan

1. outdated word for small cattle like pigs, goats, sheep

• “brav”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “brav”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “brav”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2025

• braf (obsolete)

From French brave.

• IPA^(key): /bʁaːf/

• Audio:

  (file)

brav (strong nominative masculine singular braver, comparative braver, superlative am bravsten)

1. (of people, especially children, and pets, obsoletely everything) good, well-behaved or reliable, obedient

   Ich verspreche, brav zu sein.

   I promise to be good.

   • 1766 September 18, Donnstags-Nachrichten von Zürich, number 38:

     Es wird zum Verkauf angetragen: […] 13. Ein brafer Gewehr-Kasten; und so man wollte, könnte man auch andere Sachen darein thun.

     It is put to sale: […] 13. A reliable rifle-chest; and if desired one could put other things in, too.

2. (of people, especially adults, dated) honest, upright, upstanding
3. (of clothes, behaviour) conventional, conservative, dowdy
4. (obsolete) lively, quick, bold, nimble, daring, racy
5. (obsolete) bold, keen, courageous

• bravieren
• Bravade

• “brav” in Duden online
• “brav” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) “brav”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891
• “brav” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

From French brave.

• IPA^(key): /bɣav/

brav

1. brave

From Low German brav and French brave, from Italian bravo.

brav (masculine and feminine brav, neuter bravt, definite singular and plural brave, comparative bravere, indefinite superlative bravest, definite superlative braveste)

1. (literary) brave
2. (obsolete) good

• modig

• “brav” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “brav” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Borrowed from French brave, from Italian bravo.

• IPA^(key): /brav/
• Rhymes: -av

brav m or n (feminine singular bravă, masculine plural bravi, feminine and neuter plural brave)

1. brave, courageous

   Synonyms: viteaz, curajos, îndrăzneț

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *borvъ.

• IPA^(key): /brâːʋ/

brȃv m inan (Cyrillic spelling бра̑в)

1. male sheep or goat

   Synonyms: jarac, ovan

2. wether

• “brav”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2025

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *borvъ.

• IPA^(key): [braʋ]

brav m animal (diminutive bravček)

1. barrow, castrated male pig

• “brav”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025