bold

Meaning

Adj

1. Courageous, daring.
2. Visually striking; conspicuous.
3. Having thicker strokes than the ordinary form of the typeface.
4. Presumptuous, forward or impudent.
5. Naughty; insolent; badly-behaved.
6. Full-bodied.
7. Pornographic; depicting nudity.
8. Steep or abrupt.

Noun

A dwelling; habitation; building.

Verb

1. (informal) To make (a font or some text) bold.
2. (obsolete) To make bold or daring.
3. (obsolete) To become bold or brave.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbəʊld/

Etymology

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”). For semantic development compare Italian affrontare (“to face, to deal with”), sfrontato (“bold, daring, insolent”), both from Latin frons (“forehead”).