bra
Translingual
English

Pronunciation
- enPR: brä, IPA(key): /bɹɑː/
- (Ireland): IPA(key): /bɹæ/
Audio (AU) (file) - Rhymes: -ɑː
Etymology 1
Clipping of brassiere, borrowed from French brassière, from Old French braciere (originally a lining inside armor to protect the arm, but later a garment), from Old French brace (“arm”), from Latin bracchia, plural of Latin bracchium (“forearm”), from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “forearm”), from Proto-Hellenic *brəkʰús (“short”) (because the forearm is shorter than the upper arm), inherited from Proto-Indo-European *mréǵʰus.
Noun
bra (plural bras)
Derived terms
- balconette bra
- balcony bra
- bra burner
- bra-burning
- bra chain
- bra insert
- bra-ket
- bullet bra
- cantilever bra
- car bra
- cold as a witch's tit in a brass bra
- jog bra
- jogging bra
- long-line bra
- maternity bra
- nursing bra
- peekaboo bra
- peek-a-boo bra
- plunge bra
- pocket bra
- push-up bra
- shelf bra
- sports bra
- training bra
- T-shirt bra
- underwired bra
Translations
|
Etymology 2
From bracket, referring to the notation introduced in 1939 by Paul Dirac.
Noun
bra (plural bras)
- (physics) One of the two vectors in the standard notation for describing quantum states in quantum mechanics, the row vector; the other (column) vector being its complex conjugate, the ket.
Antonyms
Related terms
- bra-ket
- ket-bra
Noun
bra (plural bras)
Afrikaans
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /brɑː/
Cebuano
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: bra
Quotations
For quotations using this term, see Citations:bra.
Garo
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Khotanese
Norman
Etymology
From Old French bras, from Vulgar Latin *bracium, from Classical Latin bracchium, from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn).
Norwegian Bokmål
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /bɾɑː/
Adjective
bra (indeclinable, comparative bedre, indefinite superlative best, definite superlative beste)
Derived terms
Norwegian Nynorsk
Adjective
bra (indeclinable, comparative betre, indefinite superlative best, definite superlative beste)
Derived terms
Scots
Swedish
Etymology
Since at least 1621, from braf (“good, brave”); from Low German brav; from French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo.
Pronunciation
audio (file) - IPA(key): /brɑː/, /brɒː/
Usage notes
In informal (often jocular or childish) contexts, bäst may be inflected further and given the comparative bästare (bester) and the superlative bästast, bästaste (bestest); these forms are also nonstandard.
Declension
Inflection of bra | |||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative2 |
Common singular | bra | bättre | bäst |
Neuter singular | bra | bättre | bäst |
Plural | bra | bättre | bäst |
Masculine plural3 | bra | bättre | bäst |
Definite | Positive | Comparative | Superlative |
Masculine singular1 | bra | bättre | bäste |
All | bra | bättre | bästa |
1) Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine. 2) The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative. 3) Dated or archaic |
Further reading
- bra in Svensk ordbok.
Tagalog
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbɾa/, [ˈbɾa]
Derived terms
- magbra
- pagbabra
Yola
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle French brave, borrowed from Italian bravo, itself of uncertain origin.
References
- Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 27