noun
bru
noun
1
A friendly term of address for a man, roughly equivalent to "bro" or "mate."
"Howzit, bru, long time no see!"
"He greeted his old friend with a warm "hey bru.""
2
A member of the Bru people, an ethnic group of mainland Southeast Asia.
"The Bru live mainly in Vietnam, Laos, and parts of Thailand."
How to Use Bru
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishIn South African slang, calling someone "bru" is like calling them "bro" or "mate" — casual and friendly.
When to use it
Chiefly South African English slang; the ethnic-group sense is unrelated and comes from a completely different source.
Common pairings
hey bru
howzit bru
my bru
Word Forms
brus plural, Bru plural
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “bru”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
Howzit, _____, long time no see!
Etymology
The South African slang sense comes from Afrikaans broer ("brother"), shortened in everyday speech — a cousin of English "bro" that developed independently.