Etymology 1
From Middle English bold, bolde, bald, beald, from Old English bald, beald (“bold, brave, confident, strong, of good courage, presumptuous, impudent”), from Proto-West Germanic *balþ, from Proto-Germanic *balþaz (“strong, bold”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-, *bʰlē- (“to bloat, swell, bubble”).
Cognate with Dutch boud (“bold, courageous, fearless”), Middle High German balt (“bold”) (whence German bald (“soon”)), Swedish båld (“bold, dauntless”). Perhaps related to Albanian ballë (“forehead”) and Old Prussian balo (“forehead”). For semantic development compare Italian affrontare (“to face, to deal with”), sfrontato (“bold, daring, insolent”), both from Latin frons (“forehead”).
Adjective
bold (comparative bolder or more bold, superlative boldest or most bold)
- Courageous, daring.
- Antonyms: risk-averse; conservative; reluctant
Bold deeds win admiration and, sometimes, medals.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.
2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 239c:It would be extraordinarily bold of me to give it a try after seeing what has happened to you.
- Visually striking; conspicuous.
the painter's bold use of colour and outline
- (typography, of typefaces) Having thicker strokes than the ordinary form of the typeface.
Many bold fonts are available on this computer.
In HTML, wrapping text in <b> and </b> tags produces bold text.
- Presumptuous, forward or impudent.
- (Ireland) Naughty; insolent; badly-behaved.
All of her children are terribly bold and never do as they are told.
- Full-bodied.
- (Philippines) Pornographic; depicting nudity.
- Steep or abrupt.
1808, William Bernard Cooke, A New Picture of the Isle of Wight, page 144:The grounds descend with a bold slope to the water's edge, and rise finely upwards above the mansion, abounding with fine trees, and ornamented by a range of building at a distance, in a corresponding style […]
Translations
courageous, daring
- Arabic:
- Egyptian Arabic: جسور (gasūr)
- Armenian: քաջ (hy) (kʻaǰ), խիզախ (hy) (xizax), հանդուգն (hy) (handugn)
- Assamese: সাহসী (xahoxi)
- Bashkir: ҡыйыу, баҙнатсыл
- Bengali: সাহসী (bn) (śahośi)
- Bulgarian: смел (bg) (smel), хра́бър (bg) (hrábǎr)
- Catalan: agosarat (ca)
- Cherokee: ᏍᎦᏎᏅ (sgasenv)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 膽大/胆大 (zh) (dǎndà), 勇敢 (zh) (yǒnggǎn)
- Czech: odvážný (cs) m, smělý (cs) m, troufalý (cs) m
- Danish: modig (da), tapper
- Dutch: moedig (nl)
- Esperanto: aŭdaca (eo)
- Estonian: julge (et), vahva (et), vapper
- Finnish: arastelematon (fi), arkailematon (fi), karski (fi), rohkea (fi), röyhkeä (fi), selväpiirteinen, suorasukainen (fi), urhoollinen (fi), uskalias (fi), voimakas (fi)
- French: hardi (fr), effronté (fr)
- Galician: atufado, afouto, arriscado (gl)
- Georgian: გამბედავი (gambedavi), გულადი (guladi), გაბედული (gabeduli)
- German: mutig (de), wagemutig (de), tapfer (de), kühn (de)
- Greek: τολμηρός (el) (tolmirós), θαρραλέος (el) (tharraléos)
- Ancient: τολμηρός (tolmērós), θαρσαλέος (tharsaléos), τολμήεις (tolmḗeis) (Epic)
- Hebrew: אמיץ (he) m (amitz), אמיצה f (amitza)
- Hungarian: bátor (hu), merész (hu)
- Ido: brava (io), proda (io), kuraja (io), kurajoza (io), kurajema (io)
- Irish: dána, forránach
- Italian: sfrontato (it), ardito (it), audace (it), coraggioso (it), baldo (it)
- Japanese: 勇敢な (ja) (ゆうかんな, yūkan na), 大胆な (ja) (だいたんな, daitan na)
- Latin: audens, audax
- Macedonian: хра́бар (hrábar), смел (smel)
- Mongolian: зоримог (mn) (zorimog)
- Norwegian: modig (no)
- Old English: beald
- Old Norse: snarr
- Ottoman Turkish: جسور (cesur)
- Persian: جسور (fa) (jasur) (of people), جسورانه (fa) (jasurâne) (of behavior)
- Plautdietsch: driest
- Polish: odważny (pl), śmiały (pl)
- Portuguese: corajoso (pt), bravo (pt), audacioso (pt)
- Romanian: temerar (ro)
- Russian: сме́лый (ru) (smélyj), хра́брый (ru) (xrábryj), отва́жный (ru) (otvážnyj)
- Scots: bauld
- Scottish Gaelic: dàna
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: одважан, храбар
- Roman: odvažan (sh), hrabar (sh)
- Slovak: smelý, odvážny, opovážlivý, trúfalý
- Somali: geesi (so)
- Spanish: audaz (es), intrépido (es), atrevido (es), denodado (es)
- Swedish: modig (sv), djärv (sv)
- Turkish: cesur (tr)
- Vietnamese: dũng cảm (vi), can đảm (vi), gan dạ (vi)
- Yiddish: מוטיק (mutik), דרייסט (dreyst)
|
Translations to be checked
Etymology 2
From Middle English bolden, balden, from Old English baldian, bealdian, from Proto-Germanic *balþōną, related to *balþaz (see above). Cognate with Old High German irbaldōn (“to become bold, dare”).
Verb
bold (third-person singular simple present bolds, present participle bolding, simple past and past participle bolded)
- (transitive, informal) To make (a font or some text) bold.
- Synonyms: boldface, embolden
- Coordinate terms: italicize, strike through, underline
Please bold all these subheads.
- (transitive, obsolete) To make bold or daring.[1]
c. 1603–1606 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] His True Chronicle Historie of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Nathaniel Butter, […], published 1608, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:[…] for this buſines,
It touches vs, as France inuades our land
Not bolds the King, with others whome I feare,
Moſt iuſt and heauy cauſes make oppoſe.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To become bold or brave.[1]
Etymology 3
From Middle English bold, from Old English bold, blod, bolt, botl (“house, dwelling-place, mansion, hall, castle, temple”), from Proto-Germanic *budlą, *buþlą (“house, dwelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew- (“to grow, wax, swell”) or *bʰuH-.
Cognate with Old Frisian bold (“house”) (whence North Frisian bol, boel, bøl (“house”)), North Frisian bodel, budel (“property, inheritance”), Middle Low German būdel (“property, real estate”). Related to build.
- bolde, boolde (both obsolete)