brandish

English

WOTD – 25 January 2007

Etymology

From Middle English braundischen, from Old French brandiss-, stem of brandir (“to flourish a sword”), from Frankish *brandijan, from Frankish *brand (“firebrand; sword”), from Proto-Germanic *brandaz (“fire; flame; sword”), whence Old English brand (“firebrand; torch”); equivalent to brand +‎ -ish. More at brand.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɹændɪʃ/

• Audio (US)

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• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ændɪʃ

Verb

brandish (third-person singular simple present brandishes, present participle brandishing, simple past and past participle brandished)

1. (transitive) To move or swing a weapon back and forth, particularly if demonstrating anger, threat or skill.

   He brandished his sword at the pirates.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 96, column 1:

     Hvng be yͤ heauens vvith black, yield day to night; / Comets importing change of Times and States, / Brandiſh your cryſtall Treſſes in the Skie, / And vvith them ſcourge the bad reuolting Stars, / That haue conſented vnto Henries Death: / King Henry the Fift, too famous to liue long, / England ne're loſt a King of ſo much vvorth.

   • 1819, Joseph Rodman Drake, The Culprit Fay:

     the quivering lance which he brandished bright

   • 1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza IX, page 53:

     Back, he spurred like a madman, shouting a curse to the sky, / With the white road smoking behind him, and his rapier brandished high! / Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat; […]

2. (transitive) To bear something with ostentatious show.

   to brandish syllogisms

   • 1749, [John Cleland], “[Letter the First]”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], volume I, London: […] G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC, page 66:

     Long, however, the young ſpark did not remain, before, giving it [his penis] two or three ſhakes, by way of brandiſhing it, he threw himſelf upon her, […]

   • 2011, Jejomar C. Binay, Binay: Blame corruption on modern consumerism, Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation, [1]:

     It sets the stage for cutting corners in our principles just so we can brandish a perceived badge of stature.

Synonyms

• flourish, wave

Translations

to move a weapon

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} يُلوَّح (بسلاح) مهدَِّداً
• Bulgarian: размахвам заплашително (razmahvam zaplašitelno)
• Catalan: brandar (ca), brandejar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 揮舞／挥舞 (zh) (huīwǔ), 揮／挥 (zh) (huī)

• Czech: mávat (cs)
• Dutch: zwaaien (nl)
• Finnish: heiluttaa (fi), heristää
• French: brandir (fr)
• Galician: brandir
• German: schwingen (de), schwenken (de), hantieren (de), führen (de)
• Greek: κραδαίνω (el) (kradaíno)

  Ancient: πάλλω (pállō)

• Icelandic: bregða (is), sveifla
• Ido: brandisar (io)
• Irish: bagair
• Japanese: 振り回す (ふりまわす, furimawasu), 閃かす (ひらめかす, hiramekasu)
• Korean: 휘두르다 (ko) (hwidureuda)
• Latin: vibrō
• Maori: whakakakapa, tōwhiri, tōwhiriwhiri, whakahana, whīoioi, pīoioi
• Middle English: braundischen
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: svinge (no)

• Occitan: brandir (oc)
• Old Norse: bregða
• Polish: wymachiwać (pl)
• Portuguese: brandir (pt)
• Romanian: flutura (ro), a învârti (ro) (sabia)
• Russian: маха́ть (ru) (maxátʹ), разма́хивать (ru) (razmáxivatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: crath
• Spanish: esgrimir (es), blandir (es)
• Swedish: svinga (sv), hötta (sv), hytta (sv)
• Ukrainian: маха́ти impf (maxáty), розма́хувати impf (rozmáxuvaty)

to bear something with ostentatious show

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} تلويح مهدَِّد
• German: vorzeigen (de), ausstellen (de), vorführen (de), herzeigen
• Greek:

  Ancient: πάλλω (pállō)

• Maori: whakaoraora
• Russian: хва́статься (ru) (xvástatʹsja), выставля́ть напока́з (vystavljátʹ napokáz)

See also

• assault

Noun

brandish (plural brandishes)

1. The act of flourishing or waving.

Synonyms

• flourish