Bracing

How to spell bracing

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bracing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bracing mean?

1. adjectiveFresh and invigorating, especially of cold weather or air that makes you feel alert and energised.
2. nounA framework of beams, struts, or ties added to a structure to make it rigid and stable.

Bracing in a sentence

• adjective

  The bracing sea air woke everyone up on the morning walk.

• noun

  The engineer specified extra diagonal bracing for the roof frame.

• adjective

  A bracing wind swept across the open moor as they climbed.

• noun

  Steel bracing was fitted to keep the wall from bowing.

Where does bracing come from?

Language of origin: French

This word grows out of the verb 'to brace', which English took from the Old French 'bracier', meaning 'to embrace' or 'to fasten with the arms'. That in turn rests on the noun 'brace', from Old French 'brace' for 'the two arms', which itself descends from the Latin 'bracchia', the plural of 'bracchium' meaning 'arm'. The early sense in English was physical: to clasp, tighten, or make firm, much as you would grip something with both arms. From the idea of tightening and steadying came the figurative adjective 'bracing', recorded from the 1700s, describing cold air or weather that seems to tighten and refresh the body. The same Latin 'arm' root quietly survives in 'bracelet' and 'embrace', and remembering that the word ends in a soft -cing (not -sing) is helped by tying it back to 'brace'.

How the word is built

• brace (from Old French 'brace': the two arms)
• -ing (adjective/noun suffix)