Where does “brave” come from?
brave (French) comes from Italian bravo, from Vulgar Latin bravus, from Latin barbarus, from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος, from Proto-Indo-European balb-.
brave (French): brave; honest; hero
Ancestry of “brave”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Italian | bravo | good, well-behaved; good, skilful, capable,... |
| 2 | Vulgar Latin | bravus | — |
| 3 | Latin | barbarus | foreign; savage; uncivilized |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | βάρβαρος | non-Greek-speaking, foreign; barbaric, brutal,... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | balb- | — |
Words derived from “brave”