bra

The word 'bra' is a 20th-century clipping of the earlier term 'brassiere', which entered English from French in the early 1900s. The French word 'brassière' originally meant a child's undershirt or a simple bodice, derived from Old French 'braciere' meaning 'arm guard', which itself came from 'bras' (arm). The semantic shift from a garment for the arms to one for the breasts reflects a functional reinterpretation. The abbreviated form 'bra' became standard in English by the mid-20th century, representing a common linguistic process of shortening long, borrowed words for everyday use.

The word 'bra' is a shortened form of the full word 'brassiere'. It is a clipping, not a compound or derivation from distinct morphemes in its current form.