different between bravo vs alpha

English

Etymology

From Italian bravo. Doublet of brave.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b??vo?/, /b???vo?/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b???v??/, /b????v??/
• Rhymes: -??v??, Rhymes: -??

Noun

bravo (plural bravos or bravoes)

1. A hired soldier; an assassin; a desperado.
   • 1953, Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye, Penguin 2010, page 104:

     Because the headache will always be there, a weapon that never wears out and is as deadly as the bravo’s rapier or Lucrezia's poison vial.

2. A shout of "bravo!"
3. Bravo, the letter B in the ICAO spelling alphabet.

Synonyms

• (hired soldier): see Thesaurus:mercenary

Interjection

bravo!

1. Used to express acclaim, especially to a performer.

   Bravo, you have done a brilliant job!

Usage notes

Sometimes the (non-anglicized) Italian female form brava is used for a woman, and the Italian plural forms brave (feminine) and bravi (masculine or mixed).

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:well done

Related terms

• bravissimo

Translations

Verb

bravo (third-person singular simple present bravos or bravoes, present participle bravoing, simple past and past participle bravoed)

1. To cheer or applaud, especially by saying bravo!

French

Etymology

From Italian bravo. Doublet of brave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?a.vo/

Interjection

bravo

1. bravo!, hear, hear!, well said!, well done!

Noun

bravo m (plural bravos)

1. (in the plural) applause, cheers
2. swordsman

   Synonym: spadassin

Related terms

• bravache
• bravade
• brave
• bravement
• braver
• bravoure

Further reading

• “bravo” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Galician

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?a?o?/

Etymology 1

From Old Galician and Old Portuguese bravo, from Latin barbarus, which was frequently found in Galician medieval Latin documentation with the meaning of "uncultivated, fallow". Alternatively from Vulgar Latin *bravus or *brabus, from a fusion of Latin pr?vus and barbarus.

Adjective

bravo m (feminine singular brava, masculine plural bravos, feminine plural bravas)

1. uncultivated, harsh, rough (when referring to a land)
   • 1334, M. Lucas Alvarez & P. P. Lucas Domínguez (eds. ), San Pedro de Ramirás. Un monasterio femenino en la Edad Media. Santiago: Caixa Galicia, page 487:

     et nos dedes delle en cada ano terça do pan e do viño, e de lino e de liguma do feytuo, e do monte bravo que aromperdes

     and you'll give us each year a third of the grain and of the wine, of the flax, and of the pulses, and of the uncultivated lands that you could plough up

2. wild, spontaneous (when referring to a plant)

   Synonym: ventureiro

3. wild, untamed (when referring to an animal)

   Synonym: salvaxe

4. harsh, fierce
   • 1364, Clara Rodríguez Núñez (ed.), "Santa María de Belvís, un convento mendicante femenino en la Baja Edad Media (1305-1400)", Estudios Mindonienses, 5, page 441:

     son ende quatro boys, dous bravos et dous massos

     there are four oxen: two are fierce and two are meek

   Synonym: fero

5. strong (when referring to a beverage) or hot spicy

   Synonym: forte

6. bold, valiant

   Synonyms: afouto, arriscado, valente

Derived terms

• besta brava (“wild horse”)
• Bravos
• porco bravo (“wild pig”)
• faneca brava (“lesser weever”)

Related terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Interjection

bravo!

1. bravo!

References

• “bravo” in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval, SLI - ILGA 2006-2012.
• “bravo” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006-2013.
• “bravo” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “bravo” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Italian

Etymology

Uncertain. Probably from Vulgar Latin *bravus, from a fusion of Latin pr?vus and barbarus. Less likely from Provençal brau (“show-off”), from Gaulish *bragos (compare Middle Irish breagha (modern breá) 'fine', Breton braga 'to strut'). Or perhaps borrowed from a descendant of Proto-Germanic *hrawaz (“raw, uncooked”). Or possibly from a root *bravus, from bravium. Borrowed into French and English as brave.

Pierre Carpentier, in an 18th-century edition of du Cange's 17th-century dictionary of medieval and modern Latin, argued Latin branus originated in a misreading of Italian and Spanish bravo. However, George Nicholson argues the opposite in a 1950 Festschrift article, namely bravo being a misreading of Latin branus, which would have the origin du Cange had originally argued for, from Old French brahaigne (“barren”) (see barren). Compare English gravy, possibly a misreading of French grané (“stew”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?bra.vo/
• Hyphenation: brà?vo
• Rhymes: -avo

Adjective

bravo (feminine brava, masculine plural bravi, feminine plural brave) (superlative bravissimo)

1. (used before the noun) good, well-behaved
2. good, skilful, capable, clever, fine
3. good, obedient
4. (obsolete) brave, bold
5. (obsolete, of animals) wild, untamed
6. (obsolete, of places) harsh

Related terms

• bravaccio
• bravamente
• bravare
• bravata
• bravazzo
• braveria
• bravino
• bravura
• brav'uomo

Interjection

bravo! m (f brava!, m pl bravi!, f pl brave!)

1. well done!, good show!
2. (theater) bravo!

References

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Portugal, Brazil) IPA^(key): /?b?a.vu/
• Hyphenation: bra?vo

Etymology 1

From Old Portuguese bravo, possibly from Vulgar Latin *bravus or *brabus, from a fusion of Latin pr?vus and barbarus.

Adjective

bravo m (feminine singular brava, masculine plural bravos, feminine plural bravas, comparable)

1. angry; furious, annoyed

   Synonyms: furioso, irado, raivoso, enraivecido, brabo

2. brave; valiant, courageous

   Synonyms: valente, destemido, corajoso

3. coarse; uneducated, uncivilized

   Synonyms: bárbaro, rude, grosseiro

4. prone to irritation, easily angered, bad-tempered, choleric

   Synonyms: genioso, irritadiço, brabo

5. rigorous, authoritarian

   Synonyms: rígido, rigoroso, severo, brabo

6. (of a person, or situation) difficult, unmanageable

   Synonyms: ruço, difícil, brabo

7. (of an animal) undomesticated

   Synonyms: bravio, silvestre, brabo

8. (of a plant, or vegetable) spontaneous, weed

   Synonym: espontâneo

9. (of the land) uncultivated

   Synonyms: bravio, inculto

10. (of the sea) stormy

    Synonyms: tempestuoso, brabo

11. (hypercorrect) Alternative form of brabo

Inflection

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Interjection

bravo!

1. bravo! well done!

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?abo/, [?b?a.??o]

Etymology 1

From Old Spanish bravo, possibly from Vulgar Latin *bravus or *brabus, from a fusion of Latin pr?vus and barbarus (or from metathesis of an intermediate form *babru-).

Adjective

bravo (feminine brava, masculine plural bravos, feminine plural bravas) (superlative bravísimo)

1. angry, furious

   Synonyms: enojado, enfadado, fiero, mañoso

2. bold, courageous

   Synonym: valiente

3. skilful, capable, clever, fine
4. good, excellent
5. agitated (sea)
6. wild (animal)

   Synonym: salvaje

Derived terms

Related terms

• bravear
• bravero
• braveza
• bravío
• bravucón
• bravura
• desbravar
• embravecer

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Italian bravo.

Interjection

¡bravo!

1. (in general use) well done!, good show!
2. (at the theatre, etc) bravo!

Further reading

• “bravo” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

References

Turkish

Etymology

From Italian bravo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?a.vo/

Interjection

bravo!

1. well done!, good show!
2. (theater) bravo!

English

Etymology

From the Ancient Greek ???? (álpha), the first letter of the Greek alphabet, from the Phoenician ????? (?, “aleph”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ælf?/, [?æ?.f?]

Noun

alpha (countable and uncountable, plural alphas)

1. The name of the first letter of the Greek alphabet (?,  ?), followed by beta. In the Latin alphabet it is the predecessor to A.
2. Latin alpha: the Latin letter ? (minuscule: ?).
3. (sciences) The name of the symbols ? and ? used in science and mathematics, often interchangeable with the symbols when used as a prefix.

   I will attempt to make an alpha particle ("?-particle") with the Large Hadron Collider.

4. (finance) The return of a given asset or portfolio adjusted for systematic risk.
5. A person, especially a male, who is dominant, successful and attractive; (see alpha male).
   • 2008, Faye Flam, The Score: How the Quest for Sex Has Shaped the Modern Man, Avery (2008), ?ISBN, unnumbered page:

     Being a beta male in a species with alphas doesn't mean you have to sit out the mating game.

   • 2008, The New Black Lace Book of Women's Sexual Fantasies (ed. Mitzi Szereto), Black Lace (2008), ?ISBN, page 38:

     I'm still turned on by alpha males. I think there are only a couple of other men that turn me on . . . ones that are clearly not alphas.

   • 2009, Martin G. Groder & Pat Webster, Winning at Love: The Alpha Male's Guide to Relationship Success, Bascom Hill Books (2009), ?ISBN, page ix:

     This book is primarily for alpha males, or “top dogs.” We'll talk more about that later; but let's just say that if you are a man and successful in the world of trade, business, or profession, most likely you are an alpha, or you have been trained to act like an alpha.

6. (informal, abbreviation) Short for alphabet. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
7. (software engineering) The first versions of a program, usually only available to the developer, and only tested by the developer.
8. (aviation) Short for angle of attack.
9. (computer graphics) The level of translucency of a color, as determined by the alpha channel.
10. (statistics) The significance level of a statistical test; the alpha level.
11. (fandom slang) In omegaverse fiction, a person of a sexually-dominant (and sometimes secondary) gender/sex that is driven by biology, magic, or other means to bond with an omega, with males of this type often having canine-like genitalia.
    • 2013, Kristina Busse, "Pon Farr, Mpreg, Bonds, and the Rise of the Omegaverse", in Fic: Why Fanfiction Is Taking Over the World (ed. Anne Jamison), page 317:

      Sometimes the alphas and omegas are rare, sometimes they are only males, sometimes they have altered sex organs.

    • 2017, Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega? Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 11:

      Sherlock realizes that John, despite being an alpha, sees and loves Sherlock for who he is, “a brilliant, mad, nutter of a man,” instead of only wanting him for his reproductive functions, his ability to become pregnant.

    • 2018, Laura Campillo Arnaiz, "When the Omega Empath Met the Alpha Doctor: An Analysis of Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics in the Hannibal Fandom", in The Darker Side of Slash Fan Fiction (ed. Ashton Spacey), page 130:

      Contrary to the typical scenario expected in a dark A/B/O story, in this story both Hannibal and Will are alphas—but Hannibal wants Will to be his omega; subservient and submissive to him only.

Coordinate terms

(angle of attack): beta, gamma, theta

Derived terms

Related terms

• alphabet

Translations

See also

• Alpha (investment) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Adjective

alpha (not comparable)

1. Designates the first in an order of precedence.

   I am the alpha male.

2. (of person, object or action) exhibiting characteristics of the alpha male/female archetype.
   • 2015, Life Is Strange, Square Enix:

     And thank you. Seriously. I'll call you later.
     You better. I'm feeling pretty alpha now.
     Yes, you are.

3. (astronomy) Designates some bright star, usually the brightest star, of a constellation.

   When space travel becomes feasible, I plan to visit Alpha Centauri.

Derived terms

Anagrams

• alaph, phaal

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /al.fa/

Noun

alpha m (plural alpha)

1. alpha (Greek letter)

Further reading

• “alpha” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Interlingua

Noun

alpha

1. alpha

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ???? (álpha).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?al.p?a/, [?ä??p?ä]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?al.fa/, [??lf?]

Noun

alpha n (indeclinable)

1. alpha

References

• alpha in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• alpha in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• alpha in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• alpha in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette