What does bracket mean?
A bracket is a remarkably versatile word whose meanings all share the idea of holding or grouping things together. In its most concrete sense, a bracket is an L-shaped support attached to a wall that carries a shelf or piece of equipment. In writing and printing, brackets are pairs of enclosing marks — square [ ], round ( ), curly { }, or angle ⟨ ⟩ — used to set off insertions, clarifications, or editorial notes within text. More abstractly, a bracket denotes a category or band within a range, as in a tax bracket or age bracket, and in sport it describes the structured diagram of paired matches in a knockout tournament. As a verb, to bracket something is to enclose it in such marks or, figuratively, to group it alongside comparable things. The word entered English in the late sixteenth century from French, and its everyday usefulness lies precisely in this blend of the physical, typographic, and conceptual.
A support, typically L-shaped or angled, attached to a wall to hold a shelf, fixture, or other object.
"Each floating shelf rests on two concealed steel brackets."
This concrete sense is common in DIY, construction, and interior design contexts.
Either of a pair of marks, such as [ ] or ( ), used in writing, printing, and computing to enclose words or figures.
"Insert the missing word in square brackets so readers know it was added by the editor."
A category or division within a range, especially of income, age, or skill level.
"Households in the top tax bracket saw the largest changes under the new law."
A scheme of paired matches in a knockout competition, or the diagram representing it.
"Millions of Americans fill out a bracket every March predicting the NCAA tournament results."
Standard regular plural; when referring to punctuation, always used in the plural since the marks occur in pairs.
"Close the brackets at the end of the clause."
The word 'bracket' comes from the French braguette — literally a codpiece — because early architectural supports resembled the padded breeches of Renaissance fashion.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bracket
Bracket entered English in the late sixteenth century from French braguette, a diminutive meaning originally a codpiece — the padded pouch on doublets — applied to architectural supports whose shape recalled that garment. The French noun derives from brague, itself likely of Gaulish or Romance origin. From the architectural sense the word extended metaphorically to the typographic marks that 'hold up' or enclose passages of text, and later to categories and tournament structures. Its cousin in other languages includes Spanish bragueta, which shares the same garment-based origin.
Related word forms
How bracket is actually used
In American English, 'bracket' often refers by default to square brackets [ ], with parentheses treated as a separate category; British English commonly uses 'square brackets' and 'round brackets' explicitly. The sports sense ('fill out a bracket') is chiefly North American and tied to March Madness culture. As a verb, 'to bracket someone with' a group can carry a slightly evaluative tone, implying comparison rather than equality.
Easily confused with bracket
A parenthesis is specifically the round mark ( ) enclosing an explanatory aside, while 'bracket' is the broader term covering round, square, curly, and angle enclosure marks.