Prode

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Brave and valiant, describing a person of courage and noble daring, especially a knight or warrior in Italian usage
2. Showing great courage and gallantry, in the manner of a bold and honorable fighter
3. Courageous and heroic, used of someone who faces danger with boldness and chivalry

Etymology: "Prode" is an archaic English word meaning brave or valiant. It belongs to a family of medieval French words built on the idea of worth and capability. Old French "prou" meant good, useful, or of advantage, and it gave rise to "preux," a word for a valiant knight, and to the English "prowess," which entered the language for courage and skill in battle. The same root produced "prude." In French, the feminine form "prude" first meant a worthy or virtuous woman, and only later took on the sense of someone excessively proper. English adopted that later meaning, so a word that once praised a woman's merit came to describe primness.