English [ edit ]
Etymology [ edit ]
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-
See also West Frisian brún , Dutch bruin , German braun , Ancient Greek φρύνη ( phrúnē ) , φρῦνος ( phrûnos , “ toad ” ) ; Latin brunneus ( “ brown ” ) , Lithuanian bė́ras ( “ brown ” ) , Sanskrit बभ्रु ( babhrú , “ reddish-brown ” ) ). Doublet of bruin .
Pronunciation [ edit ]
brown (countable and uncountable , plural browns )
( countable and uncountable ) A colour like that of chocolate or coffee .
The browns and greens in this painting give it a nice woodsy feel.
brown:
( snooker , countable ) One of the colour balls used in snooker , with a value of 4 points.
( uncountable ) Black tar heroin .
( slang , archaic , countable ) A copper coin .
1883 , “The Omnibus”, in London Town [1] :"We've not had any breakfast,—won't you toss us down a brown ?"— That's what they call a penny in the streets of London Town.
A brown horse or other animal.
1877 , George Nevile, Horses and Riding , page 105: [ …] browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish.
( sometimes capitalised, countable , informal ) A person of Latino , Middle Eastern or South Asian descent ; a brown-skinned person; someone of mulatto or biracial appearance.
2005 , Kristen A. Myers, Racetalk: Racism Hiding in Plain Sight
Many browns and blacks are immigrants — some of whom have not yet become naturalized citizens of the United States.
( entomology ) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae (formerly the family Satyridae ).
( entomology ) Any of certain species of nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae , such as those of the genera Heteronympha and Melanitis .
( informal ) A brown trout (Salmo trutta ).
( hunting , as "the brown") A mass of birds or animals that may be indiscriminately fired at.
1928 , R. Pigot, Twenty-five Years Big Game Hunting (page 166)
The temptation to have a shot into the brown was great. There was not a head there which was not a big one and the one by himself was not too easy a shot since it is always difficult to shoot when lying in soft snow.
1979 , Kevin Andrews, Athens Alive (page 223)
My anger mounted at this, I opened the courtyard door and raised my musket to fire into the brown ; I had loaded it with small shot, and if it had gone off that would have been the death of us and the ruin of all of us in the house.
Derived terms [ edit ]
Descendants [ edit ]
Translations [ edit ]
colour
Afrikaans: bruin (af)
Akan: ahaban dada , ntokowa ntokowa
Albanian: bojëkafe (sq)
American Sign Language: B@Cheek-PalmForward B@Jaw-PalmForward
Arabic: بُنِّيّ ( bunniyy ) , أَسْمَر m ( ʾasmar )
Moroccan Arabic: قهوي ( qahwi )
South Levantine Arabic: بني ( binni )
Armenian: շագանակագույն (hy) ( šaganakaguyn ) , դարչնագույն (hy) ( darčʿnaguyn ) , ( Western ) սրճագույն (hy) ( srčaguyn )
Assamese: মটীয়া ( motia )
Asturian: marrón m
Azerbaijani: qəhvəyi (az) , darçını
Bashkir: көрән ( körän )
Basque: marroi (eu)
Belarusian: кары́чневы ( karýčnjevy )
Bislama: braon
Breton: gell (br)
Bulgarian: кафяв цвят m ( kafjav cvjat ) , кафяво (bg) ( kafjavo )
Burmese: အညို (my) ( a.nyui )
Catalan: marró (ca) m
Central Sierra Miwok: tatát·-i-
Chichewa: bulawuni
Chickasaw: lakna
Chinese:
Cantonese: 啡色 ( fe1 sik1 )
Mandarin: 棕色 (zh) ( zōngsè ) , 褐色 (zh) ( hèsè ) , 咖啡色 (zh) ( kāfēisè )
Cornish: gell (light brown ), gorm (dark brown )
Crimean Tatar: qoñur
Czech: hnědý (cs)
Danish: brun (da)
Dutch: bruin (nl)
Esperanto: bruno (eo)
Estonian: pruun (et)
Faroese: brúnt n
Fijian: dravu
Finnish: ruskea (fi)
French: marron (fr) , brun (fr)
Galician: marrón (gl) m , brun (gl) m , pardo (gl) m , castaño (gl) m
Georgian: ყავისფერი (ka) ( q̇avisperi ) ( brown proper, coffee-color ) , წაბლისფერი ( c̣ablisperi ) ( chestnut brown ) , მურა ( mura ) ( dark brown ) , უნაბისფერი ( unabisperi ) ( yellow-brown ) , ჟღალისფერი ( žɣalisperi ) ( wine red-brown ) , წენგოსფერი ( c̣engosperi ) ( walnut-rind-colored, darkish-brown )
German: Braun (de) n
Alemannic German: Bruun n
Greek: καστανό (el) n ( kastanó ) , καφέ (el) n ( kafé )
Ancient: ὀρφνός ( orphnós )
Hebrew: חוּם (he) ( khúm )
Hiligaynon: abelyána
Hindi: भूरा (hi) m ( bhūrā )
Hopi: tasikpu
Hungarian: barna (hu)
Icelandic: brúnn (is) n
Ido: bruna (io)
Igbo: nchara
Indonesian: cokelat (id)
Ingush: бора ( bora )
Iranun: maredtem
Irish: donn (ga)
Italian: marrone (it) , castano (it)
Japanese: 茶色 (ja) ( ちゃいろ, chairo ) , 褐色 (ja) ( かっしょく, kasshoku )
Kalmyk: күрң ( kürñ )
Kapampangan: komanggi , makomanggi
Karachay-Balkar: къонгур ( qoñur )
Karaim: къахъвэ рэнги
Khakas: хоор ( xoor )
Khmer: ពណ៌ត្នោត ( poa tnaot )
Khoekhoe: ǂgama
Kongo: maron
Korean: 갈색 (ko) ( galsaek )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: قاوەیی ( qaweyî )
Northern Kurdish: çakar (ku) , qehweyî (ku) , qehwerengî (ku)
Kumyk: къонгур ( qoñur )
Kyrgyz: күрөң (ky) ( küröñ )
Lakota: ǧí
Latgalian: bryuns
Latin: aquilus (la) m
Latvian: brūns
Lingala: maron
Lithuanian: rudas
Low German:
Dutch Low Saxon: bruun (nds) , broen (nds) n
German Low German: Brun , Bruun
Luhya: ekawa
Macedonian: кафеава f ( kafeava )
Malagasy: volontany (mg) , fiana (mg)
Malay: coklat (ms) , perang (ms)
Malayalam: തവിട്ട് (ml) ( taviṭṭŭ )
Maltese: kannella (mt) f
Maranao: malimba
Mongolian: бор (mn) ( bor )
Montagnais: katshishtemauaput
Muong: nu
Navajo: dibéłchíʼí , yishtłizh
Norwegian: brun (no)
Occitan: marron
Ojibwe: ozaawaanzan
Old English: brun
Ossetian: морӕ ( moræ )
Pashto: بور (ps) ( bore ) , نسواري (ps) ( naswâri )
Persian: قهوهای (fa) ( qahvei )
Polish: brąz (pl) m inan
Portuguese: castanho (pt) m , marrom (pt) m
Romanian: brun (ro) , maro (ro) n
Russian: кори́чневый (ru) ( koríčnevyj ) , бурый (ru) ( buryj ) (horse, coal)
Samoan: enaena
Sardinian: castàngiu
Scots: broon
Scottish Gaelic: donn ( dark brown ) , ruadh ( reddish-brown )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: смеђ
Roman: smeđ (sh)
Shona: mbise
Shor: кӱрең ( küreň )
Slovak: hnedá
Slovene: rjava f
Somali: boodhe
Southern Altai: кӱреҥ ( küreŋ )
Spanish: marrón (es) m , café (es) m ( Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Mexico ) , canelo (es) m ( the Canary Islands ) , carmelita m ( Cuba ) , carmelito m ( Colombia ) , ( for hair ) castaño (es) m , ( for brown bear ) pardo (es) m , ( for skin ) moreno (es) m , ( for suntanned skin ) bronceado (es) m , moreno (es) m ( Spain )
Swahili: kahawia (sw)
Swazi: nsúndvu
Swedish: brun (sv)
Tagalog: kayumanggi (tl) , malakalaw
Tahitian: 'ina'ina
Tajik: каҳвагӣ (tg) ( kahvagī ) , қаҳваранг (tg) ( qahvarang )
Thai: สีน้ำตาล (th) ( sǐi-nám-dtaan )
Tigrinya: ቡናዊ ( bunawi )
Tofa: һүреӈ ( hüreň )
Tok Pisin: braun , braunpela
Tongan: palauni , melomelo
Turkish: kahverengi (tr) , kongur (tr) , konur (tr)
Tuvan: хүрең ( xüreñ )
Ukrainian: кори́чневий (uk) ( korýčnevyj )
Urdu: بھورا m ( bhūrā )
Urum: кӱрен , конур
Uyghur: قوڭۇر ( qongur )
Uzbek: jigarrang (uz)
Vietnamese: nâu (vi)
Volapük: braun (vo) , ( obsolete ) blon (vo)
Welsh: brown (cy)
Yakut: күрэҥ ( küreŋ )
Yoruba: àwo pako
one of the colour balls used in snooker
brown horse or other animal
nymphalid butterfliy of subfamily Satyrinae
hunting: mass of birds or animals
Adjective [ edit ]
brown (comparative browner or more brown , superlative brownest or most brown )
Having a brown colour .
( obsolete ) Gloomy .
( sometimes capitalized ) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
( US ) Latino
( of Asians ) South Asian
( of East Asians ) Southeast Asian
Descendants [ edit ]
Translations [ edit ]
having a brown colour
Afrikaans: bruin (af)
Albanian: zeshkan (sq) , bojë kafe
American Sign Language: B@Cheek-PalmForward B@Jaw-PalmForward
Amharic: ቡናይነት ( bunaynät )
Arabic: أَسْمَر m ( ʾasmar ) , سَمْرَاء f ( samrāʾ ) , سُمْر pl ( sumr ) , بُنِّيّ ( bunniyy )
Egyptian Arabic: أسمر ( asmar )
Aragonese: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: շագանակագույն (hy) ( šaganakaguyn )
Asturian: marrón , castañu
Azerbaijani: qəhvəyi (az) , darçını
Bashkir: көрән ( körän )
Basque: marroi (eu)
Belarusian: кары́чневы ( karýčnjevy ) , ( eyes ) ка́ры ( káry ) , ( hair ) кашта́навы ( kaštánavy )
Bengali: বাদামি ( badami )
Breton: brun (br) , gell (br)
Bulgarian: кафяв (bg) ( kafjav )
Burmese: ညို (my) ( nyui )
Catalan: marró (ca)
Cherokee: please add this translation if you can
Chickasaw: lakna
Chinese:
Mandarin: 褐色 (zh) ( hèsè ) , 棕色 (zh) ( zōngsè ) , ( coffee colour ) 咖啡色 (zh) ( kāfēisè )
Cornish: gell (light brown ), gorm (dark brown )
Crimean Tatar: qave renki
Czech: hnědý (cs) m
Danish: brun (da)
Dutch: bruin (nl)
Esperanto: bruna (eo)
Estonian: pruun (et)
Faroese: brúnur
Finnish: ruskea (fi)
French: brun (fr) , marron (fr)
Galician: marrón (gl) , castaño (gl) , pardo (gl)
Georgian: ყავისფერი (ka) ( q̇avisperi )
German: braun (de)
Alemannic German: bruun
Greek: καστανός (el) m ( kastanós ) , ορφνός (el) m ( orfnós )
Gujarati: ભૂરો ( bhūro ) , બદામી ( badāmī )
Hebrew: חוּם (he) ( khúm )
Hiligaynon: abelyána
Hindi: भूरा (hi) ( bhūrā )
Hungarian: barna (hu)
Icelandic: brúnn (is)
Igbo: brawu
Indonesian: coklat (id)
Ingush: бора ( bora )
Irish: donn (ga)
Italian: marrone (it) , bruno (it)
Japanese: 茶色い ( ちゃいろい, chairoi ) , 褐色 (ja) ( かっしょく, kasshoku )
Javanese: soklat (jv)
Kalmyk: күрң ( kürñ )
Kannada: ಕಂದು (kn) ( kandu )
Kazakh: қоңыр (kk) ( qoñır )
Khakas: кӱрең ( küreñ )
Khmer: ត្នោត (km) ( tnaot )
Korean: 갈색의 (ko) ( galsaegui )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: çakar (ku) , qehweyî (ku) , qehwerengî (ku)
Kyrgyz: күрөң (ky) ( küröñ )
Lao: ນ້ຳຕານ (lo) ( nam tān )
Latin: spādīx , ustīcius , ( Late, Medieval ) brunneus
Latvian: brūns
Ligurian: please add this translation if you can
Lithuanian: rudas m
Low German:
Dutch Low Saxon: bruun (nds)
German Low German: brun (nds) , bruun (nds)
Luxembourgish: brong
Macedonian: кафен ( kafen )
Malay: perang (ms) , coklat (ms)
Malayalam: കാക്കി (ml) ( kākki )
Marathi: कथ्था ( kaththā )
Mirandese: please add this translation if you can
Muong: nu
Nepali: खैरो (ne) ( khairo )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: brun (no) , ( dark brown ) mørkbrun , mørkebrun
Nynorsk: brun , ( dark brown ) mørkbrun , mørkebrun
Occitan: please add this translation if you can
Old English: brūn , eorp
Oriya: please add this translation if you can
Oromo: magaala (om)
Pashto: بور (ps) ( bore ) , نسواري (ps) ( naswâri )
Persian: قهوهای (fa) ( qahve'i )
Plautdietsch: brun (nds)
Polish: brązowy (pl)
Portuguese: castanho (pt) , marrom (pt)
Quechua: ch'umpi , sañi
Romanian: maro (ro) , brun (ro)
Romansch: brin ( Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan ) , bregn ( Sutsilvan, Surmiran ) , brün ( Puter, Vallader )
Russian: кори́чневый (ru) ( koríčnevyj ) , ( of eyes ) ка́рий (ru) ( kárij ) , ( of hair ) кашта́новый (ru) ( kaštánovyj ) , ( coffee colour ) кофе́йный (ru) ( koféjnyj ) , бу́рый (ru) ( búryj ) , ( of horses - chestnut colour ) гнедо́й (ru) ( gnedój )
Sanskrit: श्याव (sa) ( śyāva ) , कपिला (sa) ( kapilā )
Scots: broon
Scottish Gaelic: donn
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: смеђ
Roman: smeđ (sh)
Shor: кӱрең ( küreñ )
Sinhalese: දුඹුරු (si) ( duᵐburu )
Slovak: hnedý (sk)
Slovene: rjav (sl)
Spanish: marrón (es) , café (es) , pardo (es) , castaño (es)
Swedish: brun (sv)
Tagalog: kayumanggi (tl)
Tajik: қаҳвагӣ ( qahvagī )
Tamil: பழுப்பு (ta) ( paḻuppu )
Tatar: көрән ( körän )
Telugu: పింగళము (te) ( piṅgaḷamu )
Thai: น้ำตาล (th) ( nám-dtaan )
Tigrinya: ቡናዊ ( bunawi )
Turkish: kahverengi (tr)
Turkmen: goňur , go–ur
Ukrainian: кори́чневий (uk) ( korýčnevyj ) , ( eyes ) ка́рий ( káryj ) , ( hair ) кашта́новий ( kaštánovyj ) , бу́рий (uk) ( búryj )
Urdu: بھورا ( bhūrā )
Uyghur: قوڭۇر ( qongur )
Uzbek: qoʻngʻir (uz)
Vietnamese: nâu (vi)
Volapük: braunik (vo) , ( obsolete ) blonik (vo)
Welsh: brown (cy)
West Frisian: brún (fy)
Yiddish: ברוין ( broyn )
brown (third-person singular simple present browns , present participle browning , simple past and past participle browned )
( intransitive ) To become brown.
Fry the onions until they brown .
( cooking , transitive ) To cook something until it becomes brown.
1887 , Indian Cookery "Local" for Young Housekeepers: Second Edition (page 67)
Pound an onion, warm a spoonful of ghee and throw in the onion, brown it slightly, add your curry stuff, brown this till it smells pleasantly, [ …]
( intransitive , transitive ) To tan .
Light-skinned people tend to brown when exposed to the sun.
( transitive ) To make brown or dusky.
1807 , Joel Barlow, The Columbiad :A trembling twilight o'er the welkin moves, / Browns the dim void and darkens deep the groves.
( transitive ) To give a bright brown colour to, as to gun barrels, by forming a thin coating of oxide on their surface.
1860 , Andrew Ure, Ure’s Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines [2] , page 463:It is mixed uniformly with olive oil, and rubbed upon the iron slightly heated, which is afterwards exposed to the air, till the wished-for degree of browning is produced.
( demography , transitive , intransitive , slang , ethnic slur , usually derogatory , offensive ) To turn progressively more Hispanic or Latino , in the context of the population of a geographic region.
the browning of America
Translations [ edit ]
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations .
Translations to be checked
Derived terms [ edit ]
terms derived from "brown"
Related terms [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
Etymology [ edit ]
Borrowed from English brown .
Pronunciation [ edit ]
Adjective [ edit ]
brown (feminine singular brown , plural brown , equative browned , comparative brownach , superlative brownaf )
brown
Mutation [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]