Etymograph

English

brio

Brio comes from Italian brio ‘finesse, talent’, from Spanish brío ‘vigour, mettle’, and ultimately from Proto-Celtic *brīgos ‘power’.

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*brīgos‘power’reconstructed
  2. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CEsame form‘strength’reconstructed
  3. Old Occitanc. 950–1500briu‘wild’
  4. Spanishc. 1500–presentbrío‘vigour, mettle’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentbrio‘finesse, talent’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1917same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*brīgos‘power’reconstructed
  2. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CEsame form‘strength’reconstructed
  3. Old Occitanc. 950–1500briu‘wild’
  4. Spanishc. 1500–presentbrío‘vigour, mettle’
  5. Italianc. 1300–presentbrio‘finesse, talent’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1917same form

Earliest quotation: 1917, Henry Handel Richardson, Australia Felix: “He lay tossing restlessly on a dirty old straw…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷreh₂- ‘heavy’

bar, grave, gravity, guru, brutal, grief, brute, grieve, grievous, grievance, gravitate, aggravate, aggravation, gravitas, gravitation, brut, baryon, barite, 17 more

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrḗǵʰ-o-s

brigand, 1 more

through Proto-Celtic *brīgos ‘power’

brigadier, brig, 2 more

Today it means

noun Vigour or vivacity.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Celtic *brīgos / brio

Shirt and support for this word