English Explanatory Dictionary

brow

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The bony ridge over the eyes, upon which the eyebrows are located.
  2. The eyebrow.
  3. The forehead.
  4. Aspect; appearance; facial expression.
  5. The projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill.
  6. The first tine of an antler's beam.
  7. A gallery in a coal mine running across the face of the coal.
  8. The gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay.
  9. The hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp.
verb
  1. To bound or limit; to be at, or form, the edge of.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/bɹaʊ/ En-us-brow.ogg

Word forms

brow brows browing browed

Etymology

From Middle English browe, from Old English brū, from Proto-West Germanic *brāwu, from Proto-Germanic *brūwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“brow”). Cognate with Scots broo (“brow”), Dutch brauw (“brow”), German Braue (“eyebrow”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish bryn (“brow”), Faroese, Icelandic brún (“brow”). See also Middle Irish brúad, Tocharian B pärwāne (“eyebrows”), Lithuanian bruvi̇̀s, Serbo-Croatian obrva (“eyebrow”), Russian бровь (brovʹ, “brow”), Ancient Greek ὀφρύς (ophrús, “eyebrow”), Sanskrit भ्रू (bhrū, “eyebrow”)), Persian ابرو (abru, “eyebrow”), Khowar بروُ (bruú, “eyebrow”).

Synonyms

forehead

Derived words

beetle brow beetle-browed Berry Brow bibrow brow-antlered deer browband brow-beat browbeat browbeaten browbone browbound browful brow job browless brow-level browlift browline browman browplasty brow ridge browspot Dobb Brow eye brow eyebrow highbrow low-brow lowbrow medium-brow midbrow middlebrow monobrow no-brow overbrow Scouse brow sweat of one's brow sweat of the brow underbrow unibrow Weatherby brow
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