Braille

[ breyl ]

/ breɪl /

noun

Louis

[loo-is, loo-ee; French lwee] /ˈlu ɪs, ˈlu i; French lwi/, 1809–52, French teacher of the blind.

a system of writing or printing, devised by L. Braille for use by the blind, in which combinations of tangible dots or points are used to represent letters, characters, etc., that are read by touch.

verb (used with object), Brailled, Braill·ing.

to write or transliterate in Braille characters.

Also braille (for defs 2, 3).

Origin of Braille

First recorded in 1850–55

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for braille

If our interview were in person, she would ask me to type out questions on a braille display.
TEDx Talks Have a Disability Problem—but This Incredible Young Woman Is Working to Change That|Nina Strochlic|November 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Kandynce went to Braille school so she could keep up her passion for reading, history in particular.
Killed by Donald Sterling’s Racism|Michael Daly|May 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
According to the American Foundation for the Blind, Dufau eventually relented and the Braille code spread throughout the world.
History's Greatest Book Burners|Judith Miller|September 7, 2010|DAILY BEAST
The fingers of the blind spelled out its optimism and its selections at Hawthorne in Braille.
The Syndic|C.M. Kornbluth

He could write Braille, with a punch and a Braille slate,--yes, indeed!
The Happy Venture|Edith Ballinger Price
Words and images came tripping to my finger ends, and as I thought out sentence after sentence, I wrote them on my braille slate.
Story of My Life|Helen Keller
Braille and typewriting were taken up as a matter of course.
Through St. Dunstan's to Light|James H. Rawlinson
For a while, indeed, I had to copy my Latin in braille, so that I could recite with the other girls.
Story of My Life|Helen Keller

British Dictionary definitions for braille (1 of 2)

Braille¹

/ (breɪl) /

noun

a system of writing for the blind consisting of raised dots that can be interpreted by touch, each dot or group of dots representing a letter, numeral, or punctuation mark

any writing produced by this methodCompare Moon

verb

(tr) to print or write using this method

British Dictionary definitions for braille (2 of 2)

Braille²

/ (French braj) /

noun

Louis (lwi). 1809–52, French inventor, musician, and teacher of the blind, who himself was blind from the age of three and who devised the Braille system of raised writing

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for braille

Braille

A system of writing and printing for the blind in which arrangements of raised dots representing letters and numbers can be identified by touch.