brown

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A colour like that of chocolate or coffee.
2. (countable) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 4 points.
3. (uncountable) Black tar heroin.
4. (archaic, countable, slang) A copper coin.
5. (countable, uncountable) A brown horse or other animal.
6. (capitalized, countable, ethnic, informal, slur, sometimes) 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. (countable, uncountable) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae (formerly the family Satyridae), such as those of the genera Heteronympha and Melanitis.
8. (countable, informal, uncountable) A brown trout (Salmo trutta).
9. (countable, uncountable) A mass of birds or animals that may be indiscriminately fired at.

Adj

1. Having a brown colour.
2. (obsolete) Gloomy.
3. (US, capitalized, sometimes) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
4. (US, broadly, capitalized, sometimes) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
5. (capitalized, sometimes) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
6. (capitalized, sometimes) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
7. Not green (environmentally irresponsible); anti-green (against environmental protection).

Verb

1. (intransitive) To become brown.
2. (transitive) To cook something until it becomes brown.
3. (intransitive, transitive) To tan.
4. (transitive) To make brown or dusky.
5. (transitive) To give a bright brown colour to, as to gun barrels, by forming a thin coating of oxide on their surface.
6. (derogatory, ethnic, intransitive, offensive, slang, slur, transitive, usually) To turn progressively more Hispanic or Latino, in the context of the population of a geographic region.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɹaʊn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: broun

Inherited from Old English: brūn

Cognate with Dutch: bruin

Cognate with German: braun

Cognate with Ancient Greek: φρύνη

Cognate with Latin: brunneus

Cognate with Lithuanian: bė́ras

Cognate with Sanskrit: बभ्रु

Cognate with Western Frisian: brún

In summary

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
* Ancient Greek φρύνη (phrúnē), φρῦνος (phrûnos, “toad”)
* Latin brunneus (“brown”)
* Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)
* Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú, “reddish-brown”)
* West Frisian brún

Synonyms

red

brownish

tan

tanned

tawny

grey

gray

embrown

sunburnt

bay

fulvous

bronzed

hazel

dark

browned

swarthy

blue

chocolate-brown

greyish-brown

reddish-brown

chestnut

🌰

suntan

dark-brown

yellow

brownness

snake

🐍

sunbathe

sunburned

suntanned

swarthiness

toast

unbleached

yellowish

ash-colored

ash-gray

get sunburnt

light brown

reddish brown

very thin

sunburn

ash-coloured

reddish black

be black

be dark-complexioned

palm colour

vulture plume

auburn

partly webbed

bittern

black

Sentences

A dark black dog is playing with a light brown dog in a backyard .

These hairs , which disappear over time , cover dark brown to black bud scales .