English Explanatory Dictionary

brown

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A colour like that of chocolate or coffee.
  2. One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 4 points.
  3. Black tar heroin.
  4. A copper coin.
  5. A brown horse or other animal.
  6. A person of mostly Latin American (or Latino), Middle Eastern/North African, South Asian, and sometimes Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, or rarely Native American descent; a brown-skinned person; someone of mulatto, or biracial appearance.
  7. Any of various nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae (formerly the family Satyridae), such as those of the genera Heteronympha and Melanitis.
  8. A brown trout (Salmo trutta).
  9. A mass of birds or animals that may be indiscriminately fired at.
adj
  1. Having a brown colour.
  2. Gloomy.
  3. Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
  4. Latino/Latin American
  5. of color.
  6. South Asian or sometimes Middle Eastern or North African
  7. Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, or sometimes Native American
  8. Not green (environmentally irresponsible); anti-green (against environmental protection).
verb
  1. To become brown.
  2. poop.
  3. To cook something until it becomes brown.
  4. To tan.
  5. To make brown or dusky.
  6. To give a bright brown colour to, as to gun barrels, by forming a thin coating of oxide on their surface.
  7. To turn progressively more Hispanic or Latino, in the context of the population of a geographic region.
name
  1. A surname.
  2. An English and Scottish surname transferred from the nickname.
  3. An Irish surname of Anglo-Norman origin, a translation of de Brún.
  4. A locale in the United States.
  5. An unincorporated community in California; named for hotelier George Brown.
  6. An unincorporated community in Louisiana; named for landowner George W. Brown.
  7. An unincorporated community in Oklahoma; named for postmaster Robert H. Brown.
  8. An unincorporated community in West Virginia; named for early settler John Brown.
  9. A ghost town in Nevada.
  10. A number of townships in the United States, listed under Brown Township.
  11. Brown University.
noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of brown (“person with a dark complexion”).
adj
  1. Alternative letter-case form of brown (“of a dark complexion”).

Pronunciation

/ˈbɹaʊ̯n/ en-us-brown.ogg En-uk-brown.ogg /ˈbɹæʊ̯n/ /ˈbɹaːn/ /bɹuːn/ /bɹaʊn/ En-Brown.ogg

Word forms

brown browns broon browner more brown brownest most brown browning browned Browne Broun

Etymology

From Middle English broun, from Old English brūn (“brown; dark; dusky”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūn, from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-. Doublet of bruin. Cognates * Dutch bruin * German braun * Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish brun * Ancient Greek φρύνη (phrúnē), φρῦνος (phrûnos, “toad”) * Latin brunneus (“brown”) * Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”) * Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú, “reddish-brown”) * West Frisian brún

Synonyms

nongreen antigreen embrown brownify

Related words

brownfield brunet burnet tawny mahogany auburn golding Browne

Derived words

anti-brown Arran brown Asian brown flycatcher Banks' brown big brown bat Bismarck brown black and brown Boston brown bread brownable brown adipose tissue brown ale brown alga brown ammonia brown anole brown argus brown as a berry brown asbestos brownback brown bag brown-bag brown-bagger brown bagging brown bag test brown bar brown bastard brown beaksedge brown bean brown bear brown bent brown bentgrass Brown Bess Brown Betty brown-bill brownbill brown-billed scythebill brown bits brown bomber brown boobook brown bottle flu brown box brown box crab brown bread brown-brown brown bullhead brown butter brown catshark brown cheese brown cloud brown clover brown coal Browncoat brown coati brown cow brown crab brown creeper brown dwarf brown earth browned off brown envelope journalism brown envelope syndrome

Translations

Afrikaans: bruin Akan: ahaban dada Akan: ntokowa ntokowa Albanian: bojëkafe Southern Altai: кӱреҥ Arabic: بُنِّيّ Arabic: أَسْمَر Arabic: بُنِّي Arabic: قهوي Arabic: بني Aragonese: marrón Aragonese: pardo Armenian: շագանակագույն Armenian: դարչնագույն Armenian: սրճագույն Armenian: կարիչնիվի Aromanian: murnu Assamese: মটীয়া Asturian: marrón Azerbaijani: qəhvəyi Azerbaijani: darçını Bashkir: көрән Basque: marroi Belarusian: кары́чневы Bislama: braon Breton: gell Bulgarian: кафя́в цвят Bulgarian: кафя́в Burmese: အညို Catalan: marró Cherokee: ᎤᏬᏗᎨᎢ Chichewa: bulawuni Chickasaw: lakna Chinese Cantonese: 啡色 Chinese Mandarin: 棕色 Chinese Mandarin: 褐色 Chinese Mandarin: 咖啡色 Cornish: gell Cornish: gorm Montagnais: katshishtemauaput Crimean Tatar: qoñur Czech: hnědý Danish: brun Dutch: bruin Esperanto: bruno Estonian: pruun Faroese: brúnt Fijian: dravu Finnish: ruskea French: marron French: brun Old French: brun Old Frisian: brūn Galician: marrón Galician: brun Galician: pardo Galician: castaño Georgian: ყავისფერი Georgian: წაბლისფერი Georgian: მურა Georgian: უნაბისფერი Georgian: ჟღალისფერი Georgian: წენგოსფერი Arabic: بْرَاوْن Chinese Mandarin: 布朗 Esperanto: Braŭno Greek: Μπράουν Hebrew: בראון Hindi: ब्राउन Japanese: ブラウン Korean: 브라운 Māori: Parāone Persian: براون Russian: Бра́ун Russian: Бро́ун Afrikaans: de Bruyn Afrikaans: de Bruyns Afrikaans: Bruyn Afrikaans: Bruyns Afrikaans: de Bruin Afrikaans: de Bruins Catalan: Bru Danish: Brun Danish: Bruun Dutch: Bruin Dutch: Bruijn Dutch: Bruyn Dutch: Bruyns Dutch: Bruins Dutch: de Bruyne Dutch: de Bruyn Dutch: de Bruin Dutch: de Bruine Dutch: de Bruijn Dutch: de Bruijne Finnish: Rusko French: Lebrun French: Brun French: Brunet German: Braun German: Braune German: Brun German: Brune German: Bruhn Hungarian: Barna Italian: Bruno Italian: Bruni Italian: Brunetti Italian: Moro Italian: Mori Italian: Marrone Italian: Mora Italian: Moretti
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