bold

See also: Bold, -bold, and BOLD

English

Pronunciation

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”). Compare typologically 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)

  2. Courageous; daring.
    Antonyms: risk-averse; conservative; reluctant
    Bold deeds win admiration and, sometimes, medals.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
      Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. Thus outraged, she showed herself to be a bold as well as a furious virago. Next day she found her way to their lodgings and tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head.
    • 2005, Plato, translated by Lesley Brown, Sophist, page 239c:
      It would be extraordinarily bold of me to give it a try after seeing what has happened to you.
    • 2018 September 9, Howard Tayler, Schlock Mercenary‎[1], archived from the original on 10 September 2025:
      "I'm no agent. I simply AM." "That's a bold statement, considering 'I am' is a popular name for God."
  3. Visually striking; conspicuous.
    the painter's bold use of colour and outline
  5. (typography, of typefaces) Having thicker strokes than the ordinary form of the typeface.
    Many bold fonts are available on this computer.
    In HTML, wrapping text in <b> and </b> tags produces bold text.
  6. Presumptuous, forward, or impudent.
  7. (Ireland) Naughty; insolent; badly-behaved.
    All of her children are terribly bold and never do as they are told.
  8. (wine, of alcoholic beverages) Full-bodied.
  9. (Philippines) Pornographic; depicting nudity.
    The government warned bus operators against continuing to show bold content on buses.
  10. Steep or abrupt.
    • 1808, William Bernard Cooke, A New Picture of the Isle of Wight, page 144:
      The grounds descend with a bold slope to the water's edge, and rise finely upwards above the mansion, abounding with fine trees, and ornamented by a range of building at a distance, in a corresponding style […]
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

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
    Please bold all these subheads.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To make bold or daring.[1]
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To become bold or brave.[1]
Synonyms
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.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “bold”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

Cebuano

Etymology

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

Adjective

bold

  1. naked, nude
  2. pornographic

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Danish bold, from Old Norse bǫllr, from Proto-Germanic *balluz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɔld/, [ˈb̥ʌlˀd̥]
  • Audio:(file)
  • Homophone: bolt
  • Rhymes: -ʌlt

Noun

bold c (singular definite bolden, plural indefinite bolde)

  1. ball
Declension
Declension of bold
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative bold bolden bolde boldene
genitive bolds boldens boldes boldenes
Alternative forms
  • boldt (archaic)
Derived terms

Further reading

Etymology 2

From Old Danish bold, borrowed from Middle Low German bolt (“bold”), from Proto-Germanic *balþaz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɔl/, [ˈb̥ʌlˀ]

Adjective

bold (neuter boldt, plural and definite singular attributive bolde)

  1. (dated) strong, bold
    Synonym: modig
  2. (archaic) splendid, beautiful
Inflection
Inflection of bold
positive comparative superlative
indefinite common singular bold boldere boldest2
indefinite neuter singular boldt boldere boldest2
plural bolde boldere boldest2
definite attributive1 bolde boldere boldeste

1 When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
2 The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Further reading

Middle English

Adjective

bold

  1. alternative form of bolde

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

Old English

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bold/, [boɫd]

Noun

bold n

  1. alternative form of botl

Declension

Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative bold bold
accusative bold bold
genitive boldes bolda
dative bolde boldum

Polish

Etymology

    Borrowed from English bold.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈbɔlt/
    • Rhymes: -ɔlt
    • Syllabification: bold

    Noun

    bold m inan or (colloquial) m animal

    1. (typography, usually uncountable, countable in colloquial usage) bold font
      Hypernym: pismo
      • 2007 May 5, clmisiu, “Pułap lotu śmigłowca”, in lotnictwo.net.pl‎[2], quoted in nowewyrazy.uw.edu.pl, archived from the original on 6 August 2026:
        2) Ile razy Tomek pisał Ci, abyś nie używał boldu?? ¶ 3) W wymogach technicznych nie ma wzmianki o pogrubianiu pytań.
        2) How many times has Tomek wrote you not to use bold?? ¶ 3) There’s no mention of bolding questions in technical requirements.
      • 2010 October 9, seminarium.m, “Inne uwagi”, in Blox‎[3], quoted in nowewyrazy.uw.edu.pl, archived from the original on 10 November 2011:
        Nie stosujemy boldu,[sic] ani innych wyróżnień w tekście, podkreśleń, kolorowego druku, itd.
        We do not use bold,[sic] or any other forms of text formatting, such as underlining, colored text, etc.

    Declension

    Masculine inanimate:

    Declension of bold
    singular plural
    nominative bold boldy
    genitive boldu boldów
    dative boldowi boldom
    accusative bold boldy
    instrumental boldem boldami
    locative boldzie boldach
    vocative boldzie boldy

    Masculine animal (colloquial):

    Declension of bold
    singular plural
    nominative bold boldy
    genitive bolda boldów
    dative boldowi boldom
    accusative bolda boldy
    instrumental boldem boldami
    locative boldzie boldach
    vocative boldzie boldy

    Derived terms

    verbs
    • boldować impf, wyboldować pf

    Further reading

    • Modern Standard Polish:
      • “bold”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[4] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
      • “bold”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[5] (in Polish)
      • Dubisz, Stanisław, editor (2003), “bold”, in Uniwersalny słownik języka polskiego [Universal Dictionary of the Polish Language]‎[6] (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 298
      • bold at Obserwatorium językowe Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

    Romanian

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Slavic *bodъľь
    Old Church Slavonic бодль (bodlĭ)bor.
    Romanian bold

      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

      singular plural
      indefinite definite indefinite definite
      nominative-accusative bold boldul bolduri boldurile
      genitive-dative bold boldului bolduri boldurilor
      vocative boldule boldurilor

      Derived terms

      See also

      Further reading

      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
          Sir, may nanonood ng bold dito.
          Sir, there's someone watching porn here.

        Derived terms

        • magbold
        • nakabold
        This page is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.