Added 10 October 2026
brat
/bɹæt/ noun
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about brat at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
- A very troublesome child.
- A small pork sausage.
Origin
Early Modern English (c. 1500) slang term meaning "beggar's child". Possibly from Scots bratchet (“bitch, hound”), in which case it would be a doublet of brachet. Another possibility is that it was originally a dialectal word, from northern and western England and the Midlands, for a "makeshift or ragged garment," from Old English bratt (“cloak”), which is from a Celtic source (Old Irish brat (“cloak, cloth”)).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)