brow

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See also: Brow and brów

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English browe, from Old English brū, from Proto-West Germanic *brāwu, from Proto-Germanic *brūwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (brow).

Compare Middle Irish brúad, Tocharian B pärwāne (eyebrows), Lithuanian bruvìs, Serbo-Croatian obrva, Russian бровь (brovʹ), Ancient Greek ὀφρύς (ophrús), Sanskrit भ्रू (bhrū)), Persian ابرو (abru, eyebrow), Khowar بروُ (bruú).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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brow (plural brows)

  1. The ridge over the eyes; the eyebrow.
    • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:
      ’Tis not your inky brows, your black silk hair, / Your bugle eyeballs, nor your cheek of cream / That can entame my spirits to your worship.
    • c. 1763, Charles Churchill, The Ghost:
      And his arch’d brow, pulled o’er his eyes, / With solemn proof proclaims him wise.
  2. The first tine of an antler's beam.
  3. The forehead.
    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, []”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
      Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war,
      And thus hath so bestirr’d thee in thy sleep,
      That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow
      Like bubbles in a late-disturb’d stream, []
    • 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad[1]:
      Mr. Banks’ panama hat was in one hand, while the other drew a handkerchief across his perspiring brow.
  4. The projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill.
    the brow of a precipice
  5. (mining) A gallery in a coal mine running across the face of the coal.
  6. (figurative) Aspect; appearance.
  7. (nautical) The gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay.
  8. (nautical) The hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

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brow (third-person singular simple present brows, present participle browing, simple past and past participle browed)

  1. To bound or limit; to be at, or form, the edge of.

Middle English

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Noun

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brow

  1. Alternative form of browe

Norn

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Etymology

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From Old Norse brauð, from Proto-Germanic *braudą. Compare Shetlandic brau.

Noun

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brow

  1. (Orkney) bread

Plautdietsch

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Adjective

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brow

  1. brave, audacious, daring, courageous, dauntless, intrepid