bold

English Online Dictionary. What means bold‎? What does bold mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbəʊld/, [ˈbɒʊ(ɫ)d]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /boʊld/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /baʉld/, [bɒʊ(ɫ)d]
• Rhymes: -əʊld
• Homophone: bowled

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)

1. Courageous, daring.

   Antonyms: risk-averse; conservative; reluctant
2. Visually striking; conspicuous.

3. (typography, of typefaces) Having thicker strokes than the ordinary form of the typeface.

4. Presumptuous, forward or impudent.
5. (Ireland) Naughty; insolent; badly-behaved.

6. (wine, of alcoholic beverages) Full-bodied.
7. (Philippines) Pornographic; depicting nudity.

8. Steep or abrupt.

Synonyms

• (courageous): audacious, brave, courageous, daring, forward, doughty
• See also Thesaurus:brave

Derived terms

Related terms

• bield
• bolden
• boldness
• embolden

Translations

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)

1. (transitive, informal) To make (a font or some text) bold.

   Synonyms: boldface, embolden

   Coordinate terms: italicize, strike through, underline

2. (transitive, obsolete) To make bold or daring.
3. (intransitive, obsolete) To become bold or brave.

Synonyms

• embolden

Derived terms

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.

Alternative forms

• bolde, boolde (both obsolete)

Noun

bold (plural bolds)

1. (obsolete) A dwelling; habitation; building.

Related terms

• bottle
• build

References

Anagrams

• BLOD

Cebuano

Etymology

From English bold, from 1940s-1970s bold film (exploitation film).

Adjective

bold

1. naked, nude
2. pornographic

Danish

Alternative forms

• boldt (archaic)

Etymology

From Old Norse bǫllr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈb̥ʌlˀd̥]
• Rhymes: -ʌld

Noun

bold c (singular definite bolden, plural indefinite bolde)

1. ball

Declension

Derived terms

• fodbold
• tennisbold

Further reading

• “bold” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “bold” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Middle Low German bolt. Related to Danish bold and Old Norse ballr.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɔld/

Adjective

bold (masculine and feminine bold, neuter boldt, definite singular and plural bolde, comparative boldere, indefinite superlative boldest, definite superlative boldeste)

1. bold, brave, courageous

References

• “bold” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “bold” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bold/, [boɫd]

Noun

bold n

1. Alternative form of botl

Declension

Strong a-stem:

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Old Church Slavonic бодль (bodlĭ), from Proto-Slavic *bodъľь (“needle, pointy tip”). Compare Bulgarian бодил (bodil).

Noun

bold n (plural bolduri)

1. pin

Declension

Derived terms

• îmboldi

See also

• ac

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English bold.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbold/ [ˈbold̪]
• Rhymes: -old
• Syllabification: bold

Adjective

bold (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ᜔ᜇ᜔) (colloquial)

1. naked; nude; depicting nudity

   Synonyms: hubad, nakabold

Noun

bold (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜓᜎ᜔ᜇ᜔) (colloquial)

1. pornography; porn

Derived terms