Bravo

How to spell bravo

5 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce bravo

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does bravo mean?

1. interjectionA shout of approval used to praise a performer or a fine achievement.
2. nounThe code word for the letter B in the NATO phonetic alphabet used in radio and aviation.

Bravo in a sentence

• interjection

  The audience rose to their feet shouting bravo as the soprano finished.

• noun

  The pilot spelled the call sign using bravo for the second letter.

• interjection

  A loud bravo greeted the chef when she carried out the final course.

• noun

  In the phonetic alphabet, alpha comes first and bravo comes second.

Where does bravo come from?

Language of origin: Italian

This is a direct borrowing from Italian, where bravo means 'bold', 'fine', or 'brave', and was shouted in the theatre to praise a skilful performer. The Italian adjective shares its deep ancestry with the English word 'brave', though the precise Latin source is genuinely uncertain: some trace it to Latin pravus, meaning 'crooked' or 'wicked', whose sense softened over time, while others link it to barbarus, meaning 'wild' or 'foreign'. English picked it up in the early 1700s along with the fashion for Italian opera, and audiences adopted it as the standard cry of approval. For a time it also carried the Italian sense of a 'bravo', a daring hired ruffian or assassin, reflecting the same idea of boldness turned dangerous. Because it arrived ready-made from Italian, the spelling stayed simple and phonetic, ending in the unusual but regular -o that marks so many Italian loanwords.

How the word is built

• bravo (Italian: bold, brave), an unanalysed loanword used whole