# brand new

Pronunciation: say "BRAND-noo" /ˈbɹænd ˌn(j)uː/

## Adjective

1. Entirely new, as new as something can possibly be.
   - Simple: Totally new, as new as something can be.
   - _After the divorce, she moved across the country to start a brand new life._
   - _The car had a few scratches, but the dealer insisted it was brand new._
2. Behaving in a way that is out of character, unlike how one normally acts. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Behaving in a way that is not like your usual self.
   - _Ever since she got that promotion, she's been acting brand new around the old crew._
   - _Don't act brand new with me. I've known you since third grade._

## Origin

From brand ("firebrand") + new, suggesting something freshly forged; it is first recorded in 1570 (compare fire-new, "fresh from the fire"). A less likely explanation links it to a branding iron, as if newly branded. The variant bran new, which drops the d sound, is often explained after the fact as coming from bran supposedly used to pack new goods in the 18th century, but the source of that story is unknown; both forms are well attested.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/brand-new (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).