bravo

C2+ Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈbrɑvoʊ/ UK /ˈbrɑːvəʊ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

intj
a shout of approval; also a hired assassin or daring villain

Bravo! the audience cried as the soprano took her bow.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 intj · a shout of approval; also a... assassin desperado cutthroat villain hireling

Word family

Forms brava

Related forms brave bravado bravura

Etymology

From Italian bravo ('bold, brave'; as a noun 'a daring villain, hired killer'), used in English as an exclamation of approval and, separately, for a mercenary assassin. The Italian word is of disputed origin.

bravo Italian

View etymology graph ->

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# bravo

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** intj
**IPA (US):** /ˈbrɑvoʊ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈbrɑːvəʊ/

## Meanings
1. a shout of approval; also a hired assassin or daring villain

## Examples
- Bravo! the audience cried as the soprano took her bow.

## Synonyms
- assassin
- desperado
- cutthroat
- villain
- hireling

## Related Forms
- brave
- bravado
- bravura

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bravo

## Etymology
From Italian bravo ('bold, brave'; as a noun 'a daring villain, hired killer'), used in English as an exclamation of approval and, separately, for a mercenary assassin. The Italian word is of disputed origin.

## AI Etymology
Bravo comes from Italian bravo ('bold, brave'; as a noun 'a daring villain, hired killer'), used in English as an exclamation of approval and, separately, for a mercenary assassin. The Italian word is of disputed origin. The historical trail runs through bravo in Italian. Used as an intj and noun, bravo now means "a shout of approval; also a hired assassin or daring villain", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as brave, bravado, and bravura. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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