Wordwyrt

brutality

/bɹuːˈtæləti/broo-TA-luh-tee
/bɹuˈtæləti/broo-TA-luh-tee

Meaningthe quality of being brutal

Common meaning: savage cruelty

Journey through time

  1. Latinbrutus‘stupid’source
  2. Frenchbrutsource
  3. Englishbrute‘a savage creature’
  4. Englishformed in English from brutebrutal‘savagely cruel’
  5. Englishformed in English from brutalbrutality‘savage cruelty’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from brutal + -ity.

Dictionary: Skeat (1898), BRUTE, p.80 · scan

Source words

  • brutus Latin · source word “stupid”

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