brat

Early Modern English (ca. 1500) slang term meaning "beggar's child". Possibly from Scots bratchet (“bitch, hound”). Or, possibly originally a dialectal word, from northern and western England and the Midlands, for a "makeshift or ragged garment," from Old English bratt (“cloak”), which is from a Celtic source (Old Irish brat (“cloak, cloth”)).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bɹat/
• (US) enPR: brăt, IPA^(key): /bɹæt/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: (US) -æt

brat (plural brats)

1. (slang) A human child.
   • 2012 March 2, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Friday, Mar 2, 2012:

     "So... you want to have kids someday?" "Uh... well, yes. I always figured I'd have a couple brats of my own someday..." "That's still doable, you know." "I know, but the process is a lot more complicated and less intimate, and --"

   1. (derogatory) A child who is regarded as mischievous, unruly, spoiled, or selfish.

      Get that little brat away from me!

      • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 297:

        He would never speak a word, - only eat and cry, and she hadn't the heart to strike it or illtreat the youngster either; but somebody taught her a charm to make him speak, and then she found out what kind of a brat he really was.

   2. (slang) A child (at any age) of an active member of the military or the diplomatic service.

      an army brat

2. A turbot or flatfish.
   • 1843, Thomas Wilson, The Movement‎^{[The Pitman's Pay: And Other Poems]}:

     For the crabby awd dealers in ling, cod, and brats / And the vurgins that tempt us wi' nice maiden skyet...

3. (historical) A rough cloak or ragged garment.
   • 1961, Audrey I. Barfoot, Everyday costume in Britain: from the earliest times to 1900, page 80:

     The chief's daughter wears a brat and léine girdled with a criss.

   • 2005, Seán Duffy, Medieval Ireland: An Encyclopedia, →ISBN, page 156:

     The prevailing style of dress in the early medieval period comprised a léine (tunic) worn under a brat (cloak).

   • 2006, Celtic Culture: A-Celti, →ISBN, page 1272:

     Women wore loose, flowing, ankle-length robes modelled on 11th-century European fashion (derived from what O'Neill called the léine) and, perhaps, a brat over these.

4. (obsolete, UK, Scotland, dialect) A coarse kind of apron for keeping the clothes clean; a bib.
   • 1882, John Strathesk, “pp. 135”, in Blinkbonny‎^{[The English Dialect Dictionary... brat]}:

     [She] had still on the rough worsted apron of nappy homespun wool, called a "brat".

5. (obsolete) The young of an animal.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:

     Their ſhoulders broad, for complet armour fit,
     Their lims more large and of a bigger ſize
     Than all the brats yſprong from Typhons loins:

   • 1680, Roger L'Estrange, Citt and Bumpkin:

     They are your Will-Worship-men, your Prelates Brats: Take the whole Litter of’um, and you’ll finde never a barrel better Herring.

• See also Thesaurus:child.

brat (third-person singular simple present brats, present participle bratting, simple past and past participle bratted)

1. (BDSM, intransitive) To act in a bratty manner (as the submissive).
   • 2021, Ardie Stallard, Switch: A Tale of Spanking, BDSM & Romance:

     Ruthie was Ed's own submissive, a short, pretty, feisty ash-blonde New York City native who combined her submission to Ed with a good deal of mischievous bratting and a lot of sharp, intelligent conversation […]

   • 2020, Jessica M. Kratzer, Communication in Kink, page 43:

     Rather, Ana moves between playful bratting and a type of “conquer me” wantedness that good Dominants would respond to with increased control and correction.

• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.

Shortened from bratwurst, from German Bratwurst.

• (US) enPR: brŏt, IPA^(key): /bɹɑt/
• Rhymes: -ɒt

brat (plural brats)

1. (informal, Upper Midwestern US) Bratwurst.
   • 2020, Brandon Taylor, Real Life, Daunt Books Originals, page 267:

     There are many people loitering, eating ice cream, talking, eating brats.

• Appendix:English collective nouns

brat (plural brats)

1. (mining) A thin bed of coal mixed with pyrites or carbonate of lime.

brat

1. (military) Acronym of Born, Raised, And Transferred.

• BART, Bart, T-bar

A merger of two unrelated adjectives:

• Old Norse *brantr (east), brattr (west), from Proto-Germanic *brantaz, cognate with Norwegian bratt, Swedish brant, English brant.
• Old Norse bráðr (“hasty, sudden”), from Proto-Germanic *brēþaz (“hot, in a hurry, rushed”), cognate with Norwegian brå, Swedish bråd. In early modern Danish, the latter meaning also had the form brad, with the neuter bradt.

• IPA^(key): /brat/, [ˈb̥ʁɑd̥]

brat (plural and definite singular attributive bratte, comparative brattere, superlative (predicative) brattest, superlative (attributive) bratteste)

1. steep
2. sudden

• “brat” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “brat” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

• IPA^(key): /brɑt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: brat
• Rhymes: -ɑt

brat n (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of brat.

• IPA^(key): /bʁaːt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aːt

brat

1. singular imperative of braten
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of braten

• (Munster, Aran) IPA^(key): /bˠɾˠɑt̪ˠ/
• (Connemara, Mayo, Ulster) IPA^(key): /bˠɾˠat̪ˠ/

From Old Irish bratt, from Proto-Celtic *brattos (compare Welsh brethyn (“cloth”), from *brattinyos).

brat m (genitive singular brait, nominative plural brait)

1. mantle, cloak

   Proverb:

   Ná leath do bhrat ach mar is féidir leat a chonlú.

   Cut your coat according to your cloth.

   (literally, “Don’t spread your cloak farther than you can fold it.”)

2. covering
3. (theater) curtain
4. Alternative form of bratach (“flag”)

• bratach

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

brat m (genitive singular brat, nominative plural bratanna)

1. broth; thick soup

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “brat”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• G. Toner, M. Ní Mhaonaigh, S. Arbuthnot, D. Wodtko, M.-L. Theuerkauf, editors (2019), “bratt”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Entries containing “brat” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 49
• Entries containing “brat” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bràtrъ.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrat/
• Syllabification: brat

brat m pers

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)
2. brother term of address to a man

• Stefan Ramułt (1893) “brat”, in Słownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego‎ (in Kashubian), page 11
• Bernard Sychta (1967–1973) “brat”, in Słownik gwar kaszubskich, volume 1, page 65
• Jan Trepczyk (1994) “brat”, in Słownik polsko-kaszubski (in Kashubian), volumes 1–2
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011) “brat”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎
• “brat”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

• IPA^(key): [brat]

brat

1. supine of braś

Inherited from Old Polish brat.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbrat]
• Syllabification: brat

brat m pers

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)
2. brother (male companion or friend, usually with the same interests, experience, views, etc.)
3. brother (fellow human being)
4. brother endearing term of address for a male

• Zofia Stamirowska (1987-2024) “brat”, in Anna Basara, editor, Słownik gwar Ostródzkiego, Warmii i Mazur‎, volume 1, Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich Wydawnictwo Polskiej Akademii Nauk, →ISBN, pages 219-220

• bratr, bracia

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bràtrъ. First attested in the 14th century.

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /brat/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /brat/

brat m pers (diminutive bratek or bratrzyk, related adjective bratni or bratów or bracki)

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)
   • 1885 [c. 1428], Jan Baudouina de Courtenay, Jan Karłowicz, Antoni Adam Kryńskiego, Malinowski Lucjan, editors, Prace Filologiczne‎, volume I, page 479:

     Jan y Jęndrzey, braczą rodzeny

     [Jan i Jędrzej, bracia rodzeni]

   • 1939 [end of the 14th century], Ryszard Ganszyniec, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Kubica, Ludwik Bernacki, editors, Psałterz florjański łacińsko-polsko-niemiecki [Sankt Florian Psalter]‎, Zakład Narodowy imienia Ossolińskich, z zasiłkiem Sejmu Śląskiego [The Ossoliński National Institute: with the benefit of the Silesian Parliament], pages 34, 17:

     Iaco blisznego, iaco brata naszego, taco lub iesm bil (quasi proximum, et quasi fratrem nostrum, sic complacebam)

     [Jako bliźniego i jako brata naszego tako lub jeśm był (quasi proximum, et quasi fratrem nostrum, sic complacebam)]

   • 1922 [End of the 14th century], Jan Łoś, editor, Początki piśmiennictwa polskiego. (Przegląd zabytków językowych)‎, page 233:

     Bo on... gescz oczecz nasz i brat nasz

     [Bo on... jeść ociec nasz i brat nasz]

2. brother (sibling of further connection, i.e. a half-brother)
   • 1873, Zygmunt Gloger, editor, Ułamek starożytnego kazania o małżeństwie‎:

     Pamyøtay, yze Tanita (pro Tamara) od swego brata czystotø szgubila

     [Pamiętaj, iże Tanita (pro Thamar) od swego brata czystotę zgubiła]

   • 1885 [1489], Jan Baudouina de Courtenay, Jan Karłowicz, Antoni Adam Kryńskiego, Malinowski Lucjan, editors, Prace Filologiczne‎, volume V, page 30:

     Brath przyrodny novercarius

     [Brat przyrodni novercarius]

3. brother (member of the same lineage)
   • 1910 [3], Rocznik Towarzystwa Heraldycznego, page III:

     1389

     [Szeczslaw yest nasz brath, naszego sczitha y zawolana]

     Sieczsław jest nasz brat, naszego szczyta i zawołania

4. brother (member of the same community)
   • 1930 [c. 1455], “Gen”, in Ludwik Bernacki, editor, Biblia królowej Zofii (Biblia szaroszpatacka)‎, 31, 32:

     U kogokoly swe bogy naydzesz, bødze przede wszemy brati nassymy zagubyon (necetur coram fratribus nostris)

     [U kogokoli swe bogi najdziesz, będzie przede wszemi braty naszymi zagubion (necetur coram fratribus nostris)]

   • 1928 [c. 1475], “Kmieć wielkopolski w zapiskach sądowych średniowiecznych”, in Kazimierz Tymieniecki, Zygmunt Lisowski, editors, Sprawozdania Poznańskiego Towarzystwa Przyjaciół Nauk, volume IV, Greater Poland, page 44:

     Bracza naschy lawnyczy post nos ad scampnum locati

     [Bracia naszy ławnicy post nos ad scampnum locati]

5. brother term of address
   • c. 1301-1350, Kazania świętokrzyskie‎, page cr 11:

     Vidce, braca mila, zbauene, vidce uelike sina bozego priiazny

     [Widzcie, bracia miła, zbawienie, widzcie wielikie Syna Bożego przyjaźni]

6. brother (fellow human being)
   • 1447, Dekalog - Dziesięcioro przykazań bożych - Decem praecepta Dei, volume I, page 2:

     Nye zabyyay bratha thwego (non occides Deut 5, 17)

     [Nie zabijaj brat twego (non occides Deut 5, 17)]

• Masurian: brat
• Polish: brat
• Silesian: brat

• Boryś, Wiesław (2005) “brat”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego (in Polish), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Literackie, →ISBN
• Sławski, Franciszek (1958-1965) “brat”, in Jan Safarewicz, Andrzej Siudut, editors, Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological dictionary of the Polish language] (in Polish), Kraków: Towarzystwo Miłośników Języka Polskiego
• Mańczak, Witold (2017) “brat”, in Polski słownik etymologiczny (in Polish), Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności, →ISBN
• Bańkowski, Andrzej (2000) “brat”, in Etymologiczny słownik języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish)
• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, editor (2011–2015), “brat”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
• Ewa Deptuchowa, Mariusz Frodyma, Katarzyna Jasińska, Magdalena Klapper, Dorota Kołodziej, Mariusz Leńczuk, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, editors (2023), “brat”, in Rozariusze z polskimi glosami. Internetowa baza danych [Dictionaries of Polish glosses, an Internet database] (in Polish), Kraków: Pracownia Języka Staropolskiego Instytut Języka Polskiego Polskiej Akademii Nauk

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bràtrъ. First attested in 1454.

brat m pers

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)
2. brother (member of the same community, especially a church)

• Slovak: brat

• Majtán, Milan et al., editors (1991–2008), “brat”, in Historický slovník slovenského jazyka [Historical Dictionary of the Slovak Language] (in Slovak), volumes 1–7 (A – Ž), Bratislava: VEDA, →OCLC

• bratr (Middle Polish)

Inherited from Old Polish brat.

• IPA^(key): /brat/
• (Middle Polish) IPA^(key): /ˈbrat/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -at
• Syllabification: brat

brat m pers (diminutive braciszek, abbreviation br. or b.)

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)

   Coordinate term: siostra

2. brother (male having at least one parent in common with another)

   Coordinate term: siostra

   przyrodni brat ― half brother

3. (religion) brother (member of a men's religious order)

   Synonym: zakonnik

4. brother (member of a fraternity, tribe, or brotherhood)
5. brother (male companion or friend, usually with the same interests, experience, views, etc.)
6. brother (fellow human being)
7. brother endearing term of address for a male
8. (Middle Polish) brother; Further details are uncertain.
   • 1528, J. Murmelius, Dictionarius‎, page 166:

     Frater […] eyn bruder Brat

   • 1528, F. Mymer, Dictionarium‎, page 98:

     Frater. Bruder. Brat.

   • 1564, J. Mączyński, Lexicon‎, page 97b:

     Dulciſſime frater, Namilſzi Brácie.

   • 1564, J. Mączyński, Lexicon‎, page 136a:

     Frater […] Brát.

   • 1564, J. Mączyński, Lexicon‎, page 151a:

     Habeo te fratrem, Mam cie zá brátá.

   • 1564, J. Mączyński, Lexicon‎, page 266d:

     Optime et dulciſſime frater, Naylepſzy á naymilſzy brácie.

   • 1588, A. Calepinus, Dictionarium decem linguarum‎, page 433b:

     Frater ‒ Brat.

According to Słownik frekwencyjny polszczyzny współczesnej (1990), brat is one of the most used words in Polish, appearing 4 times in scientific texts, 3 times in news, 0 times in essays, 25 times in fiction, and 50 times in plays, each out of a corpus of 100,000 words, totaling 82 times, making it the 779th most common word in a corpus of 500,000 words.[1]

• brat in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• bracie in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• brat in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Maria Renata Mayenowa, Stanisław Rospond, Witold Taszycki, Stefan Hrabec, Władysław Kuraszkiewicz (2010-2023) “brat”, in Słownik Polszczyzny XVI Wieku [A Dictionary of 16th Century Polish]
• “BRAT”, in Elektroniczny Słownik Języka Polskiego XVII i XVIII Wieku [Electronic Dictionary of the Polish Language of the XVII and XVIII Century], 14.11.2018
• Samuel Bogumił Linde (1807–1814) “brat”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎
• Aleksander Zdanowicz (1861) “brat”, in Słownik języka polskiego, Wilno 1861‎
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “brat”, in Słownik języka polskiego‎ (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 201

Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic братъ (bratŭ). Doublet of bărat.

brat m (plural brați)

1. (Slavicism, rare) brother

   Synonym: frate

2. (regional, Banat) monk

   Synonym: călugăr

• brățesc
• brăți

From Old Irish bratt, from Proto-Celtic *brattos (compare Welsh brethyn (“cloth”), from *brattinyos).

• IPA^(key): /pɾaht̪/

brat m (genitive singular brata, plural bratan)

1. cloak, cover, covering, mantle, veil, canopy
2. mat

• brat-cùil

• bratach

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bratrъ, *bratъ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr.

• IPA^(key): /brât/

brȁt m (Cyrillic spelling бра̏т, diminutive brȁtić, relational adjective bràtskī)

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)
2. brother, mate, pal, buddy when used in informal speech to address somebody in the vocative

There is no plural form for this noun. Instead, the collective term brȁća is used for plural meanings.

Inherited from Old Polish brat.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrat/
• Rhymes: -at
• Syllabification: brat

brat m pers (diminutive bracik)

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)

   Coordinate term: siostra

2. (religion) brother (member of a men's religious order)

   Synonym: zakonnik

3. brother (male companion or friend, usually with the same interests, experience, views, etc.)

• brat in dykcjonorz.eu
• brat in silling.org
• Aleksandra Wencel (2023) “brat”, in Dykcjůnôrz ślų̊sko-polski‎, page 75

Inherited from Old Slovak brat.

• IPA^(key): [brat]

brat m anim (genitive singular brata, nominative plural bratia, genitive plural bratov, declension pattern of chlap)

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)

• “brat”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2024

• (br, dialectal)

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bratrъ, *bratъ, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr.

• IPA^(key): /brát/

• Audio

  (file)

brȁt m anim

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)
2. (literary, archaic) brother (someone of the same or closely related nationality)
3. (literary, by extension) brother (someone sharing the same opinions)

• “brat”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
• “brat”, in Termania, Amebis
• See also the general references

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *bratrъ.

• IPA^(key): /ˈbrat/
• Syllabification: brat

brat m pers

1. brother (son of the same parents as another person)

• Lorentz, Friedrich (1908) “brãt”, in Slovinzisches Wörterbuch‎ (in German), volume 1, Saint Petersburg: ОРЯС ИАН, page 64
• Zenon Sobierajski, editor (1997), “brat”, in Słownik gwarowy tzw. Słowińców kaszubskich [Dialectal dictionary of so-called Kashubian Slovincians]‎, volume 1. A-C, Warsaw: Slawistyczny Ośrodek Wydawniczy, →ISBN, page 112

Borrowed from English brat (“spoiled child”).

brat c

1. (slang) person who is very careful about following fashion trends; someone who rarely ever acts independently but rather follows peer pressure, usually maintaining an appearance of visible wealth

• Mainly used in plural, as a collective noun.
• Can occasionally be seen considered as neuter rather than common.

• stekare

• bart

Middle English bratt (“cloak”) or from Middle Irish bratt.

• IPA^(key): /brat/
• Rhymes: -at

brat f (plural bratiau or bratau, diminutive bretyn)

1. rag

   Synonyms: cadach, clwt

2. apron, pinafore

   Synonyms: barclod, ffedog, pinaffor

• bratiaith

• R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “brat”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies

brat

1. a coarse cloak
   • 1386, Geoffrey Chaucer, “Line 881”, in The Canon's Yeoman's Tale‎:

     Whicħ þat þey myght / wrape hem in at nyght / And a brat / to walk in / by day-light