bray
/bɹeɪ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.31 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
Of an animal (now chiefly of animals related to the ass or donkey, and the camel): to make its cry.
Intransitive verb
verb
To make or utter (a shout, sound, etc.) discordantly, loudly, or in a harsh and grating manner.
Transitive verb
noun
Any discordant, grating, or harsh sound.
name
A surname.
Example Sentences
- "Whenever I walked by, that donkey brayed at me."
- "When she went to the famous ass-race [...], it was not, like other ladies, to hear those poor animals bray, nor see fellows run naked, or to hear country squires in bob wigs and white girdles make love at the side of a coach and cry, "Madam, this is dainty weather.""
- "Henry [IV of France], paſſing through a little town, ſaw ſeveral deputies coming up to harangue him. One of them having commenced his diſcourſe, was interrupted by an aſs, who began to bray. "Gentlemen," cried the King, "one at a time, if you pleaſe."—"
- "The horse neighs, but the ass brays: the last is performed by a very loud, long, disagreeable, discordant cry, consisting of discords alternately sharp and flat. He seldom brays but when pressed with hunger or love. [...] When gelded, the ass brays with a low voice; and, though he makes the same efforts and the same motions of the throat, yet the sound reaches to no great distance."
- "He threw back his head and brayed with laughter."
- "Heard ye the din of battle bray, / Lance to lance, and horſe to horſe? / Long Years of havock urge their deſtined courſe, / And thro' the kindred ſquadrons mow their way."
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English brayen, brai, 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 *bragiō, 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 *bʰreHg- (“to flatulate; to stink”); cognate with Latin fragrō (“to smell”). Alternatively, the word could be from a Germanic source, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *bʰreHg-, brayen, brai, *bragiō, *bragu, *brageti
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɹeɪ/
- British English: /bɹeɪ/
Usage
- Intransitive verb
- Transitive verb
- Archaic
- British usage