brass
pronunciation
How to pronounce brass in British English:
UK [brɑːs]
How to pronounce brass in American English:
US [bræs]
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- Noun:
- an alloy of copper and zinc
- a wind instrument that consists of a brass tube (usually of variable length) blown by means of a cup-shaped or funnel-shaped mouthpiece
- the persons (or committees or departments etc.) who make up a body for the purpose of administering something
- impudent aggressiveness
- an ornament or utensil made of brass
- the section of a band or orchestra that plays brass instruments
- a memorial made of brass
Word Origin
- brass
- brass: [OE] Related forms occur in one or two other Germanic languages (such as Middle Low German bras, which meant simply ‘metal’), but essentially brass is a mystery word, of unknown ancestry. Its association with ‘effrontery’ begins in the late 16th century, prefigured by Shakespeare’s ‘face of brass’ in Love’s Labours Lost 1580, and by the first instances of the use of the derived adjective brazen to mean ‘shameless’ (the underlying notion is probably of a face as hard as brass, and therefore unable to show shame). Brass ‘high-ranking people’, as in top brass, comes from brass hat [19], a derogatory slang term for a senior military officer with golden insignia on his cap.
- brass (n.)
- Old English bræs "brass, bronze," originally in reference to an alloy of copper and tin (now bronze), later and in modern use an alloy of two parts copper, one part zinc. A mystery word, with no known cognates beyond English. Perhaps akin to French brasser "to brew," because it is an alloy. It also has been compared to Old Swedish brasa "fire," but no sure connection can be made. Yet another theory connects it with Latin ferrum "iron," itself of obscure origin. As brass was unknown in antiquity, use of the word in Bible translations, etc., likely means "bronze." The Romans were the first to deliberately make it. Words for "brass" in other languages (such as German Messing, Old English mæsling, French laiton, Italian ottone) also tend to be difficult to explain. The meaning "effrontery, impudence" is from 1620s. Slang sense of "high officials" is first recorded 1899. The brass tacks that you get down to (1897) probably are the ones used to measure cloth on the counter of a dry goods store, suggesting precision. Slang brass balls "toughness, courage" (emphatically combining two metaphors for the same thing) attested by 1960s.
Example
- 1. History swings on hinges of brass , not gold .
- 2. Musky and unpleasant smells , meanwhile , sounded like brass .
- 3. Deep blaring brass seemed instinctively wrong , so I tried out higher and purer sounds and eventually settled on a high piano note .
- 4. Public water bowls for dogs have brass faucets .
- 5. I had a wood bracelet with brass overlaid curls with matching earrings .