Also in superl. form bravissimo. [a. It. bravo, superl. bravissimo most excellent.] Capital! excellent! well done!
1761. Colman, Jealous W., i. (L.). That’s right—I’m steel—Bravo!—Adamant—Bravissimo!
1817. Byron, Beppo, xxxii. His ‘bravo’ was decisive.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), I. 232. Bravo, Heracles, brave words, said he.
Hence, as sb. An exclamation of Bravo! a cheer.
1844. Ld. Brougham, A. Lunel, III. v. 149. He escaped to bed before any bravo could be heard.
1855. O. W. Holmes, Poems, 29. Whose thousand bravos roll untired along.
