brute

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /brut/ UK /bruːt/ See IPA manual

Homophones

bruit /brut/

Meanings

1

noun
a savage or cruel person; relying on raw force rather than reason

The tyrant ruled by brute force alone.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a savage or cruel person;... beast savage monster barbarian animal

Word family

Forms imbrute

Derived forms brutish brutalbrutify

Related forms brutal brutality

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

brute force
raw physical power used without skill or subtlety

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (1)

See all

Et tu, Brute?

Simplified etymology

Brute entered English through Old French brut or brute, from Latin brūtus “dull, stupid.”

Etymology

From Old French brut ('coarse, brutal'), from Latin brutus ('heavy, dull, irrational, senseless'), originally an Oscan word meaning 'heavy'.

brut Old French brutus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# brute

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /brut/
**IPA (UK):** /bruːt/

## Meanings
1. a savage or cruel person; relying on raw force rather than reason

## Examples
- The tyrant ruled by brute force alone.

## Synonyms
- beast
- savage
- monster
- barbarian
- animal

## Derived Forms
- brutish
- brutal
- brutify

## Related Forms
- brutal
- brutality

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: brut
- Root: brutus

## Etymology
From Old French brut ('coarse, brutal'), from Latin brutus ('heavy, dull, irrational, senseless'), originally an Oscan word meaning 'heavy'.

## AI Etymology
Brute comes from Old French brut ('coarse, brutal'), from Latin brutus ('heavy, dull, irrational, senseless'), originally an Oscan word meaning 'heavy'. The historical trail runs through brut in Old French and brutus in Latin. Used as a noun and adjective, brute now means "a savage or cruel person; relying on raw force rather than reason", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in derived forms such as brutish, brutal, and brutify and related forms such as brutal and brutality. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.

## Topics
- People & Society

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