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Bra comes from the French word brassi?re refers to a baby's vest (undershirt) or lifebelt, underbodice or harness. The word brassi?re derives from braci?re, an Old French word meaning "arm protector" and referring to military uniforms (bras in French means "arm"). This later became used for a military breast plate, and later for a type of woman's corset. The current French term for brassi?re is soutien-gorge, literally, "held under the neck" or "throat-support". In French, gorge (throat) was a common euphemism for the breast. This dates back to the garment developed by Herminie Cadolle in 1905.

The term "brassiere" seems to have come into use in the English language as early as 1893.[2] Manufacturers were using the term by about 1904, Vogue magazine first used it in 1907, and by 1911 the word had made its way into the Oxford English Dictionary.[3] On 13 November 1914, the first patent for a brassiere was issued to Mary Phelps Jacob.

In the 1930s, "brassiere" gradually came to be shortened to "bra". In the French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec, both soutien-gorge and brassi?re are used interchangeably

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