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Webster 1913 Edition

Bold

Bold

(bōld)
,
Adj.
[OE.
bald
,
bold
, AS.
bald
,
beald
; akin to Icel.
ballr
, OHG.
bald
, MHG.
balt
, D. boud, Goth.
balþei
boldness, It.
baldo
. In Ger. there remains only
bald
, adv. soon. Cf.
Bawd
,
Noun.
]
1.
Forward to meet danger; venturesome; daring; not timorous or shrinking from risk; brave; courageous.
Throngs of knights and barons
bold
.
Milton.
2.
Exhibiting or requiring spirit and contempt of danger; planned with courage; daring; vigorous.
“The bold design leased highly.”
Milton.
3.
In a bad sense, too forward; taking undue liberties; over assuming or confident; lacking proper modesty or restraint; rude; impudent.
Thou art too wild, too rude and
bold
of voice.
Shakespeare
4.
Somewhat overstepping usual bounds, or conventional rules, as in art, literature, etc.; taking liberties in composition or expression;
as, the figures of an author are
bold
.
“Bold tales.”
Waller.
The cathedral church is a very
bold
work.
Addison.
5.
Standing prominently out to view; markedly conspicuous; striking the eye; in high relief.
Shadows in painting . . . make the figure
bolder
.
Dryden.
6.
Steep; abrupt; prominent.
Where the
bold
cape its warning forehead rears.
Trumbull.

Bold

,
Verb.
T.
To make bold or daring.
[Obs.]
Shak.

Bold

,
Verb.
I.
To be or become bold.
[Obs.]

Webster 1828 Edition

Bold

BOLD

,
Adj.
1.
Daring; courageous; brave; intrepid; fearless; applied to men or other animals; as, bold as a lion.
2.
Requiring courage in the execution; executed with spirit or boldness; planned with courage and spirit; as a bold enterprise.
3.
Confident; not timorous.
We were bold in our God to speak to you. 1 Thess.2.
4.
In an ill sense, rude, forward, impudent.
5.
Licentious; showing great liberty of fiction or expression; as, the figures of an author are bold.
6.
Standing out to view; striking to the eye; as bold figures in painting, sculpture and architecture.
7.
Steep; abrupt; prominent; as a bold shore, which enters the water almost perpendicularly, so that ships can approach near to land without danger.
Where the bold cape its warning forehead rears.
To make bold, to take freedoms; a common, but not a correct phrase. To be bold is better.

BOLD

,
Verb.
T.
To make daring. [Not used.]

Definition 2024

bold

bold

English

Alternative forms

Noun

bold ‎(plural bolds)

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

Etymology 2

From Middle English bold, bald, beald, from Old English bald, beald ‎(“bold, brave, confident, strong, of good courage, presumptuous, impudent”), 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”), both from Latin frons ‎(“forehead”).

Adjective

bold ‎(comparative bolder, superlative boldest)

  1. Courageous, daring.
    Bold deeds win admiration and, sometimes, medals.‎
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 22, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      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, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 239c.
      It would be extraordinarily bold of me to give it a try after seeing what has happened to you.
  2. (typography, of typefaces) Having thicker strokes than the ordinary form of the typeface.
    The last word of this sentence is bold.‎
  3. Presumptuous.
    • 1748, David Hume, Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973. § 9.
      even the boldest and most affirmative philosophy, that has ever attempted to impose its crude dictates and principles on mankind.
  4. Full-bodied.
  5. (Philippine English) naked, pornographic
Synonyms
Related terms
Translations

Verb

bold ‎(third-person singular simple present bolds, present participle bolding, simple past and past participle bolded)

  1. (transitive) To make (a font or some text) bold.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To make bold or daring.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)
  3. (intransitive, obsolete) To become bold.

Cebuano

Etymology

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

Adjective

bold

  1. naked, nude
  2. pornographic

Danish

Alternative forms

  • (archaic) boldt

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ʌld

Noun

bold c (singular definite bolden, plural indefinite bolde)

  1. a ball

Derived terms

Inflection

Old English

Etymology

Probably representing an earlier *bodl, *boþl, from Proto-Germanic *bōþlą, from an instrumental form of *būaną ‎(“to dwell”). Compare Old Norse ból.

Pronunciation

Noun

bold n

  1. house, dwelling, building

Declension

Romanian

Etymology

From a Common Slavic root *bodli.

Noun

bold n ‎(plural bolduri)

  1. pin

Derived terms

See also

Etymology

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”). 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.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bold/

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