brigand
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of brigand
1350–1400; variant of Middle English briga ( u ) nt < Middle French brigand < Old Italian brigante companion, member of an armed company, equivalent to brig ( are ) to treat, deal (with), make war (derivative of briga trouble, strife; of uncertain origin) + -ante -ant
Explanation
A brigand is a bad guy, especially one who belongs to a band of armed robbers. Railway travel used to be dangerous in the days when brigands frequently robbed passing trains. In the earliest years of the United States, travelers to the most sparsely inhabited parts of the country were vulnerable to highway robbers and brigands, groups of armed thieves who would stop stagecoaches and steal from those inside. The earliest kind of brigand wasn't an outlaw, however — he was a foot soldier in a legitimate army, from the Italian brigante, "trooper, skirmisher, or foot soldier." Brigand shares a root with brigade.
Vocabulary lists containing brigand
The Joy Luck Club
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The Shakespeare Stealer
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 6
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This work was Delacroix’s first religious commission, introduced in the Salon of 1827, and it opens the retrospective, hanging beside its Salon alum “Mortally Wounded Brigand Quenches His Thirst.”
From New York Times • Sep. 13, 2018
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Majestic City drew away in the final sixteenth of a mile to beat Brigand by 2¼ lengths and win Sunday’s $100,000 Hollywood Juvenile Championship on closing day of Hollywood Park.
From Washington Post • Jul. 18, 2011
Brigand returned $4 and $2.20, while Night Tide was another 1¼ lengths back in third and paid $2.20 to show.
From Washington Post • Jul. 18, 2011
The San Francisco Grabhorn Press's de luxe edition of Joaquin Murrieta, The Brigand Chief of California was sold to the last copy the day after Jackson praised it over the air.
From Time Magazine Archive
Donald had his own outfit, it having been on board the Brigand when he transferred to the Seneca.
From The Boy Scouts for Uncle Sam by Goldfrap, John Henry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
