brass

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See also: bräss

English[edit]

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Pronunciation[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *brasō (“fire, pyre”). Compare Old Norse and Icelandic bras (“solder”), Icelandic brasa (“to harden in the fire”), Swedish brasa (“a small controlled fire”), Danish brase (“to fry”); French braser ("to solder"; > English braise) from the same Germanic root. Compare also Middle Dutch braspenninc ("a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch braspenning), Old Frisian bress (“copper”), Middle Low German bras (“metal, ore”).

In the military sense an ellipsis of the brass hats.

Noun[edit]

brass (usually uncountable, plural brasses)

  1. (countable, uncountable) A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
    Coordinate term: bronze
    1. A memorial or sepulchral tablet usually made of brass or latten
    2. Fittings, utensils, or other items made of brass
  2. (music) A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; the section of an orchestra that features such instruments
  3. Spent shell casings (usually made of brass); the part of the cartridge left over after bullets have been fired.
  4. (uncountable) The colour of brass.
    brass:  
  6. (military, business or other organizations, uncountable, used as a singular or plural noun, metonymically) High-ranking officers.
    The brass are not going to like this.
    The brass is not going to like this.
  7. (uncountable, informal) A brave or foolhardy attitude; impudence.
    Synonym: bronze
    You've got a lot of brass telling me to do that!
  8. (slang, dated) Money.
  9. Inferior composition.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
References[edit]

Adjective[edit]

brass (comparative more brass, superlative most brass)

  1. Made of brass, of or pertaining to brass.
  2. Of the colour of brass.
  3. (informal) Impertinent, bold: brazen.
    • 1869, John Bruce, editor, Calendar of State Papers, domestic series, of the reign of Charles I, 1637-1638, page 147:
      At the Council board, I hope to charge him with that he cannot answer, and yet I know his face is brass enough.
    • 1872, Elsie Leigh Whittlesey, Helen Ethinger: or, Not Exactly Right, page 154:
      [...] he continued in the same insulting strain. "If you were not quite brass, you would know it is not proper to be making promises you dare not tell of."
    • 2011, Paul Christopher, The Templar Conspiracy:
      It was a show of very large and very brass cojones, [...]
    • 1996 May 24, 2:00 am, Sherman Simpson, Want license key for AGENT FOR WINDOWS95, alt.usenet.offline-reader.forte-agent:
      Maybe (probably so), but it's rare someone is brass enough to post a msg for all to see asking for a software key, that the vast majority have paid for in support of the development effort.
    • 2000 Aug 18, 2:00 am, David Ryan, strangest bid retraction /illegal lottery NOT, rec.collecting.coins:
      After cornering the dutch auction, the seller was brass enough to send him the whole lot without one.
    • 2000 Aug 19, 3:00 am, n4mwd, for RMB, alt.support.anxiety-panic:
      Try to keep in mind that not all of his converts are brass enough to challenge the benzo pushers in this group, [...]
  4. (slang) Bad, annoying; as wordplay applied especially to brass instruments.
    • 1888, Mr. & Mrs. Bancroft on and off the stage: written by themselves, volume 1, page 90:
      Grindoff, the miller, 'and the leader of a very brass band of most unpopular performers, with a thorough base accompaniment of at least fifty vices,' was played by Miss Saunders.
    • 1900 November 3, “The Training of Seamen”, in The Saturday Review, volume 90, number 2349, page 556:
      I must confess that to me there is something almost pathetic in the sight of a body of bluejackets improving their muscles on the quarter deck by bar-bell exercise, accompanied by a brass — a very brass — band, [...]
    • 1908, The Smith Family, published in Punch, March 4 1908, bound in Punch vol. CXXXIV, page 168:
      Mr. REGINALD SMITH, KC, the publisher, followed, but he had hardly begun his very interesting remarks when a procession headed by a very brass band entered Smithfield from the west, and approached the platform.
    • 1937, Blair Niles, A journey in time: Peruvian pageant, page 166:
      There are soldiers, policemen, priests and friars, as well as a motley mass of women, children, babies and dogs, and upon special occasions a very brass band.
    • 1929, Philippine Magazine, volume 6, page 27:
      The padre in my neighborhood — Santa Ana — was having some kind of a fiesta, and had hired a very brass band. This band kept up its martial airs for hours and hours after I got home, with grand finales — or what each time I hoped would be the grand finale, every five minutes.
  5. Of inferior composition.
    • 1939, The New York times film reviews, volume 3:
      As Honest Plush Brannon then, Mr. Beery is one of San Francisco's fancier con men and hence more brass than plush
Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

brass (third-person singular simple present brasses, present participle brassing, simple past and past participle brassed)

  1. (transitive) To coat with brass.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

By ellipsis from brass nail, in turn from "nail[ing]" (fig.) and "brass blonde" (see "brazen"); and also shortened from Cockney Rhyming slang brass flute for "prostitute".

Noun[edit]

brass (usually uncountable, plural brasses)

  1. (countable, slang) A prostitute.
    • 1996, Will Self, The Sweet Smell of Psychosis, Bloomsbury, published 2011, page 2:
      Richard didn't want the man on the corner to go up and fuck one of the brasses.
Translations[edit]

Adjective[edit]

brass

  1. (slang) Brass monkey; cold.

See also[edit]

Etymology 3[edit]

From Portuguese braça and Spanish braza, from Old Galician-Portuguese and Old Spanish braça, from Latin brachia, variant of bracchium (“arm, cubit”), from Ancient Greek βραχίων (brakhíōn, “upper arm”).

Noun[edit]

brass (plural brasses)

  1. (historical, obsolete) Synonym of brace, a traditional unit of measure equivalent to a fathom (6 feet) or about 1.6 m, especially as the Spanish braza and Portuguese braça, also French brasse.

References[edit]

  • David Barthelmy (1997–2024) “Brass”, in Webmineral Mineralogy Database.
  • “brass”, in Mindat.org‎[1], Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, 2000–2024.

Icelandic[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

brass n (genitive singular brass, no plural)

  1. (music, slang) brass

Declension[edit]

declension of brass
n-s singular
indefinite definite
nominative brass brassið
accusative brass brassið
dative brassi brassinu
genitive brass brassins

Middle English[edit]

Noun[edit]

brass

  1. Alternative form of bras

Swedish[edit]

Noun[edit]

brass n

  1. (colloquial) a brass section (in a jazz orchestra)
    Synonyms: mässing, bleckblås
  2. (colloquial) hashish (processed form of cannabis)
    Synonym: hasch

Declension[edit]

Declension of brass 
Uncountable
Indefinite Definite
Nominative brass brasset — —
Genitive brass brassets — —

References[edit]

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