brigade
pronunciation
How to pronounce brigade in British English:
UK [brɪˈɡeɪd]
How to pronounce brigade in American English:
US [brɪˈɡeɪd]
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- Noun:
- army unit smaller than a division
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- Verb:
- form or unite into a brigade
Word Origin
- brigade
- brigade: [17] Brigade is one of a small set of words (others are brigand and brigantine) which go back to Italian briga ‘strife’. It is not clear where this came from; theories have centred either on a Celtic origin, comparing Old Irish brig ‘strength’, or on a derivation from the Indo- European base *bhreg-, which produced English break.Either way, the noun briga produced the verb brigare ‘contend, brawl’, from which in turn came the noun brigata. This originally meant simply ‘crowd or gang of people’, but soon developed the special sense ‘military company’. English acquired the word via French brigade. Meanwhile, the present participle of the Italian verb had given brigante, which English borrowed via Old French as brigand [14], and the diminutive brigantino ‘fighting ship’, source of English brigantine [16] (abbreviated in the 18th century to brig). Brigadier is a 17th-century adoption, from French.=> brig, brigand, brigantine
- brigade (n.)
- "subdivision of an army," 1630s, from French brigade "body of soldiers" (14c.), from Italian brigata "troop, crowd, gang," from brigare "brawl, fight," from briga "strife, quarrel," perhaps of Celtic (compare Gaelic brigh, Welsh bri "power") or Germanic origin.
Example
- 1. The irish brigade diminished greatly in size and disbanded for good in 1864 .
- 2. A palestinian baby wearing an al-qassam brigade headband at a hamas rally in gaza .
- 3. My brigade was one of the first to break into his compound at bab al-aziziya .
- 4. On thursday , britain 's 20th armoured brigade finished its last patrol in southern iraq .
- 5. I 'm a diplomat , not an army general with a whole brigade behind me .