brigand
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
- brigandage noun
- brigandish adjective
- brigandishly adverb
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.
In contrast to Francis Wheen's raucous account of Marx's life as hack, brigand and rapscallion, Sperber places the history of ideas at the heart of his study.
From The Guardian • Jun. 26, 2013
What links Robert’s brigand tableau to most of the work around it is its landscape setting.
From New York Times • Jan. 24, 2013
For email notification of errors in this specific column, type brigand in the subject head of an e-mail message, and send it to .
From Slate • Apr. 5, 2011
Proclaiming that every scurvy brigand is at heart just a Broadway gypsy between shows, it's the score's main example of roistering wit.
From Time • Dec. 1, 2010
It was no brigand or orc-chieftain that ordered the assault upon the Lord of Mordor’s greatest foe.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
