bravo
intjEtymology Borrowed from Italian bravo. Doublet of brave.
1
Used to express acclaim, especially to a performer.
- Bravo, you have done a brilliant job!
- Derived terms
- Bravo Zulu
- Related terms
- brava, bravissimo
bravo
nounUS /ˈbɹɑvoʊ/ · UK /ˈbɹɑːvəʊ/
Etymology Borrowed from Italian bravo. Doublet of brave.
1
A hired soldier; an assassin; a desperado.
- 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.1753, Theophilus Cibber, The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753):
- Men have before hired bravos to transact their crimes, while their own person and reputation sat under shelter.1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 117:
2 more examples
- "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.1911, H. Rider Haggard, Red Eve:
- 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.1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin, published 2010, page 104:
2
A shout of "bravo!"
- There was a roar of bravoes rang through the house; Pen bellowing with the loudest.1907, Kate Dickinson Sweetser, Boys and girls from Thackeray:
3
Alternative letter-case form of Bravo from the NATO/ICAO Phonetic Alphabet.
International standards; plural "bravos"; international standards; plural "bravos"
- Synonyms
- mercenary