different between bray vs bras

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: bre?, IPA^(key): /b?e?/
• Rhymes: -e?
• Homophone: brae

Etymology 1

The verb is derived from Middle English braien, brai, braie, bray, braye (“of a person or animal: to vocalize loudly; of the weather: to make a loud sound, howl, roar”), from Old French brai, braire (“of an animal: to bray; of a person: to cry or shout out”) (modern French braire (“of an animal: to bray; of a person: to shout; to cry, weep”)), possibly from Vulgar Latin *bragi?, from Gaulish *bragu (compare Breton breugiñ (“to bray”), brammañ (“to flatulate”), Cornish bramma, brabma (“to flatulate”), Old Irish braigid (“to flatulate”)), from Proto-Celtic *brageti, *bragyeti (“to flatulate”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?reHg- (“to flatulate; to stink”); cognate with Latin fragr? (“to smell”). Alternatively, the word could be from a Germanic source, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *brekan? (“to break”), and cognate with frangere (“to break, shatter”).

The noun is derived from the verb, or from Middle English brai, brait (“shriek; outcry”), from Old French brai, brait (“a cry”), from braire (“of an animal: to bray; of a person: to shout; to cry, weep”); see above.

Verb

bray (third-person singular simple present brays, present participle braying, simple past and past participle brayed)

1. (intransitive) Of an animal (now chiefly of animals related to the ass or donkey, and the camel): to make its cry.

   Synonyms: (archaic, dialectal) blore, (ass or donkey) hee-haw
2. (intransitive, by extension) To make a harsh, discordant sound like a donkey's bray.
3. (transitive) To make or utter (a shout, sound, etc.) discordantly, loudly, or in a harsh and grating manner.

Derived terms

• brayer
• braying (noun)
• brayingly

Translations

Noun

bray (plural brays)

1. The cry of an animal, now chiefly that of animals related to the ass or donkey, or the camel.

   Synonym: (ass or donkey) hee-haw

2. (by extension) Any discordant, grating, or harsh sound.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English braie, braien, braye, brayen, breien (“to break (something) into small pieces, to chop, crush, grind; to use a mortar”), from Anglo-Norman breier, Old French breie, breier, broiier (modern French broyer (“to crush, grind”)), possibly from Frankish *brekan (“to break”), from Proto-Germanic *brekan? (“to break”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?reg- (“to break”); thus making the English word a doublet of break.

Verb

bray (third-person singular simple present brays, present participle braying, simple past and past participle brayed)

1. (transitive, archaic) To crush or pound, especially using a pestle and mortar.
2. (transitive, Britain, chiefly Yorkshire, by extension) To hit (someone or something).

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Raby, Ryba, bary-, yarb

English

Noun

bras

1. plural of bra

Anagrams

• ABRs, ARBs, BARS, arbs, bars, sbar

Bislama

Etymology 1

From English brush.

Noun

bras

1. brush

Etymology 2

From English brass.

Noun

bras

1. (music) brass

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *brassos (“large”): (compare Cornish bras (“big, great”), broas, and Welsh bras (“fat, broad, rich”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?az/

Adjective

bras (comparative brasoc'h, superlative brasañ, exclamative brasat)

1. big

Mutation

Burushaski

Etymology

Uncertain, but compare Proto-Sino-Tibetan *b-ras (“rice”), whence Tibetan ???? ('bras) and Mizo rah.

Noun

bras

1. rice

Cornish

Alternative forms

• broas (Revived Late Cornish)
• brâs (Standard Cornish)

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *brassos (“large”).

Adjective

bras

1. big, great

Mutation

French

Etymology

From Middle French bras, from Old French bras, from Latin brachium, bracchium, from Ancient Greek ??????? (brakhí?n). Displaced Old French feminine noun brace, ultimately from the same Latin and Ancient Greek roots.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?a/, /b??/
• (Northern France) and (Canada) IPA^(key): [b??], [b??]
  • Saguenay, Canada: IPA^(key): [b??]
• Rhymes: -a, Rhymes: -?
• Hyphenation: bras

Noun

bras m (plural bras)

1. arm

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Russian: ??? (bra)

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• bars

Icelandic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pra?s/
• Rhymes: -a?s

Noun

bras n (genitive singular brass, no plural)

1. soldering

Declension

Related terms

• brasa

Irish

Etymology 1

From Proto-Celtic *brassos (“large”).

Adjective

bras (genitive singular masculine brais, genitive singular feminine braise, plural brasa, comparative braise)

1. (literary) great, strong
2. (literary) swift

Declension

Etymology 2

Noun

bras m (genitive singular brais, nominative plural brais)

1. Alternative form of prás (“brass”)

Declension

Mutation

Further reading

• "bras" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.

Kavalan

Etymology

From Proto-Austronesian *b??as.

Noun

bras

1. rice (uncooked seeds used as food)

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old French brace.

Noun

bras

1. Alternative form of brace

Etymology 2

From Old French bracier.

Verb

bras

1. Alternative form of bracen

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French bras, from Latin brachium, bracchium, from Ancient Greek ??????? (brakhí?n).

Noun

bras m (plural bras)

1. arm

Descendants

• French: bras

Norman

Alternative forms

• brâs (continental Normandy)
• bra (Sark)

Etymology

From Old French bras, from Latin brachium, bracchium, from Ancient Greek ??????? (brakhí?n).

Pronunciation

Noun

bras m (plural bras)

1. (Jersey, Guernsey, anatomy) arm

Related terms

• braichie (“armful”)

Old French

Etymology

From Latin brachium, bracchium, from Ancient Greek ??????? (brakhí?n).

Noun

bras m (oblique plural bras, nominative singular bras, nominative plural bras)

1. arm

Descendants

• Middle French: bras
  • French: bras
• Norman: bras

Tok Pisin

Etymology

From English brush.

Noun

bras

1. brush

Welsh

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *brassos (“large”). Cognate with Breton bras, Cornish bras, Irish bras.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bra?s/

Adjective

bras (feminine singular bras, plural breision, equative brased, comparative brasach, superlative brasaf)

1. large, thick, fat
2. rough, coarse
3. rough, approximate
4. (letter) capital

Mutation

Further reading

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