BRAVO (Ital. for " brave ")  , the name for hired assassins such as were formerly common in Italy . The word had at first no evil meaning, but was applied to the retainers of the great noble houses, or to the cavalier-type of swashbucklers familiar in fiction . In later Italian history, especially in that of Venice, the bravi were desperate ruffians who for payment were ready to commit any crime, however foul .