Bravoure

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A quality signifying courage and boldness in facing challenges or threats
2. a display of valor and determination in difficult situations
3. the characteristic of having a spirited and fearless approach to adversity

Etymology: "Bravoure" is a French word, borrowed into English as "bravoure" or "bravura," and its history runs through Italian before it reached French. The Italian "bravura" meant bravery, or bravado, and it came from "bravo," a term that originally described a fierce or wild man. Italian gave the sense of spirited display to music and art, where "bravura" came to mean a showy, technically demanding passage that tests a performer's skill, and that musical sense is still the one most English speakers meet first. The French "bravoure" kept the older sense of courage and daring, and English speakers adopted it in that meaning, mostly in literary and formal contexts, from around the 1600s. The English form "bravura" retains the musical and artistic sense of dazzling execution, while the French-derived "bravoure" stays closer to moral or physical valour. The two spellings are a useful reminder that one Italian root split into two strands in English, one about courage and one about performance.

Synonyms: bravura, virtuosity, daring, boldness

Antonyms: timidity, cowardice