1894 Brewer’s / B / Bravery
Finery is the French braverie. The French for courage is bravoure.
“What woman in the city do I name
When that I say the city woman bears
The cost of princes on unworthy shoulders?
Who can come in and say that I mean her? …
Or what is he of basest function
That says his bravery is not of my cost?”
Shakespeare: As You Like It, ii. 7.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.