English
brigade
Brigade comes from Italian brigare ‘to connive, to strive to obtain by…’, and goes back to briga ‘trouble, bother’.
- Italianc. 1300–presentbriga1‘trouble, bother’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbrigare1‘to connive, to strive to obtain by questionable means’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbrigata1
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600brigade1
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbrigade1
- Englishearliest quotation 1969brigade1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English brigade
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1969, William O. Douglas's opinion in Brandenb: “This is, however, a classic case where speech is…”.
Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.
Lineage
- Italianc. 1300–presentbrigaWiktionary, English brigade‘trouble, bother’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbrigareWiktionary, English brigade‘to connive, to strive to obtain by questionable means’
- Italianc. 1300–presentbrigataWiktionary, English brigade
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600brigadeWiktionary, English brigade
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbrigadeWiktionary, English brigade
- Englishearliest quotation 1969brigadeWiktionary, English brigade. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1969, William O. Douglas's opinion in Brandenb: “This is, however, a classic case where speech is…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰreg- ‘to break’
fraction, fragile, fracture, bracket, refrain, fragment, breaker, suffrage, frail, fret, bray, fractal, refractory, infringe, breech, brogan, brogue, 36 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrégeti
through Proto-Germanic *brekaną ‘to break’
Today it means
noun A group of people organized for a common purpose.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “brigade”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Italian briga / brigade