# brass

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɹɑːs/ · frequency rank #6,549

## Definitions
1. A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
2. A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.
3. A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; a band or the section of an orchestra that features such instruments.
4. Spent cartridge casings (usually made of brass): the part of the cartridge left over after bullets or shells have been fired.
5. The color of brass (etymology 1 sense 1).
6. High-ranking officers: the brass hats.
7. A brave or foolhardy attitude; impudence.
8. Money.
9. Inferior composition.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **bros** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-bros)
- **brat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brat)
- **bray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-bray)
- **buss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-buss)
- **brave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brave)
- **brush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brush)
- **bravo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-bravo)
- **Brits** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brits)
- **brawl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brawl)
- **Braun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-braun)
- **brows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brows)
- **brisk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brisk)
- **brews** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brews)
- **brats** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brats)
- **brawn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brawn)
- **Brest** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brest)
- **brava** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brava)
- **BRICS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-brics)
- **breaks** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-breaks)
- **breast** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brass-vs-breast)

## Common misspellings (4)
`bbrass`, `brrass`, `brsas`, `rbass`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/brass