brigand

[ brig-uhnd ]

noun

1. a bandit, especially one of a band of robbers in mountain or forest regions.

   Synonyms: cutthroat, desperado, highwayman, outlaw

brigand

/ ˈbrɪɡənd /

noun

1. a bandit or plunderer, esp a member of a gang operating in mountainous areas

Derived Forms

• ˈbrigandage, noun

Other Words From

• brigand·age noun
• brigand·ish adjective
• brigand·ish·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of brigand¹

1350–1400; variant of Middle English briga ( u ) nt < Middle French brigand < Old Italian brigante companion, member of an armed company, equivalent to brig ( are ) to treat, deal (with), make war (derivative of briga trouble, strife; of uncertain origin) + -ante -ant

Word History and Origins

Origin of brigand¹

C14: from Old French, from Old Italian brigante fighter, from brigare to fight, from briga strife, of Celtic origin

Example Sentences

They want more than someone who is the same age as Trump running against the brigand.

From Salon

In one instance, Brigand said a 6-year-old student was expelled and charged with possession and distribution of a controlled substance because he brought Tums to school and gave them to his classmates, thinking they were candy.

From Slate

In The Hanged Man, historian Robert Bartlett wrote mostly about the miraculous survival of a Welsh brigand, but he also mentioned several other cases that took place elsewhere, such as the Italian story of a man named Cecco, who was hanged in the town of Capua along with a thief.

From Slate

“She thinks of running away from the abbey; of running into the woods alone and catching beasts to eat with her hands and drinking from the freshets, becoming a wildwoman or a lady brigand or a hermit in a hollowed trunk of a tree. But even on this island there are few wild places left, no place that did not at last end up too close to a village with other humans in it. No, she is caught in a great net made by her sex.”

From Washington Post

"And in any case, I have a rule in this school that all children remain in their own age groups regardless of ability. Great Scott, I'm not having a little five-year-old brigand sitting with the senior girls and boys in the top form. Whoever heard of such a thing!"

From Literature