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• brown
  brown

  noun

  a dark tertiary color with a yellowish or reddish hue.
• Brown
  Brown

  noun

  Charles Brockden 1771–1810, U.S. writer and intellectual, known as “the Father of the American novel.”

brown

¹ American  

[broun] / braʊn /

noun

1. a dark tertiary color with a yellowish or reddish hue.

2. Offensive. a person whose skin has a light- or dark-brown pigmentation.

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adjective

browner, brownest

1. of the color brown.

2. (of animals) having skin, fur, hair, or feathers of that color.

3. sunburned or tanned.

4. Often Offensive. (of human beings) having the skin naturally pigmented a brown color.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to make or become brown.

2. to fry, sauté, or scorch slightly in cooking.

   to brown onions before adding them to the stew. The potatoes browned in the pan.

verb phrase

1. brown out to subject to a brownout.

   The power failure browned out the southern half of the state.

idioms

1. browned off, angry; fed up.

2. do it up brown, to do thoroughly.

   When they entertain, they really do it up brown.

Brown ² American  

[broun] / braʊn /

noun

1. Charles Brockden 1771–1810, U.S. writer and intellectual, known as “the Father of the American novel.”

2. Clifford Brownie, 1930–56, U.S. jazz trumpeter and composer.

3. Herbert Charles, 1912–2004, U.S. chemist, born in England: Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1979.

4. Jerry Edmund Gerald Brown, Jr., born 1938, U.S. politician: governor of California 1975–83 and 2011–19.

5. Jim James Nathaniel Brown, 1936–2023, U.S. football player and actor: Pro Football Hall of Fame 1971.

6. John Osawatomie Brown, 1800–59, U.S. abolitionist: leader of the attack at Harpers Ferry, where he was captured, tried for treason, and hanged.

7. Margaret Wise, 1910–52, U.S. author noted for early-childhood books, including Goodnight Moon.

8. Olympia, 1835–1926, U.S. women's-rights activist and Universalist minister: first American woman ordained by a major church.

9. Robert, 1773–1858, Scottish botanist noted for his pioneering work in paleobotany and palynology.

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Brown ¹ British  

/ braʊn /

noun

1. Sir Arthur Whitten (ˈwɪt ^ə n). 1886–1948, British aviator who with J.W. Alcock made the first flight across the Atlantic (1919)

2. Ford Madox . 1821–93, British painter, associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings include The Last of England (1865) and Work (1865)

3. George ( Alfred ), Lord George-Brown. 1914–85, British Labour politician; vice-chairman and deputy leader of the Labour party (1960–70); foreign secretary 1966–68

4. George Mackay . 1921–96, Scottish poet, novelist, and short-story writer. His works, which include the novels Greenvoe (1972) and Magnus (1973), reflect the history and culture of Orkney

5. ( James ) Gordon . born 1951, British Labour politician; Chancellor of the Exchequer (1997–2007); prime minister (2007–10)

6. Herbert Charles . 1912–2004, US chemist, who worked on the compounds of boron. Nobel prize for chemistry 1979

7. James . 1933–2006, US soul singer and songwriter, noted for his dynamic stage performances and for his commitment to Black rights

8. John . 1800–59, US abolitionist leader, hanged after leading an unsuccessful rebellion of slaves at Harper's Ferry, Virginia

9. Lancelot , called Capability Brown . 1716–83, British landscape gardener

10. Michael ( Stuart ). born 1941, US physician: shared the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine (1985) for work on cholesterol

11. Robert . 1773–1858, Scottish botanist who was the first to observe the Brownian movement in fluids

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brown ² British  

/ braʊn /

noun

1. any of various colours, such as those of wood or earth, produced by low intensity light in the wavelength range 620–585 nanometres

2. a dye or pigment producing these colours

3. brown cloth or clothing

   dressed in brown

4. any of numerous mostly reddish-brown butterflies of the genera Maniola, Lasiommata , etc, such as M. jurtina ( meadow brown ): family Satyridae

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adjective

1. of the colour brown

2. (of bread) made from a flour that has not been bleached or bolted, such as wheatmeal or wholemeal flour

3. deeply tanned or sunburnt

verb

1. to make (esp food as a result of cooking) brown or (esp of food) to become brown

brown More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing brown

• do up (brown)

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Sensitive Note

Brown as a noun and adjective to describe people with a brownish skin color is often perceived as insulting. Historically it has been used by anthropologists and scientists as a racial and ethnic classification to describe various dark-skinned populations, as in North Africa, the Middle East, Malaysia, and South Asia. It is also a term associated with colonialism. In recent times, brown has been used of Hispanics and South Asians in North America, many of whom self-identify as brown.

Other Word Forms

• brownish adjective
• brownness noun
• browny adjective
• overbrown verb
• unbrowned adjective
• well-browned adjective

Etymology

Origin of brown

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English brūn; cognate with Dutch bruin, German braun, Old Norse brūnn; akin to Lithuanian brúnas; cf. bear ² ( def. ), bruin ( def. )

Explanation

Brown is the color an artist gets by mixing yellow, red, and blue. Chocolate, dark wood, roasted coffee beans, and old-fashioned photographs are all various shades of brown. You might think of brown as a muddy color, and that's true in a couple of ways: mud is generally brown, and brown paint is a muddy combination of colors. In the category of brown, though, there's endless variety, from toasted bread to rich brown eyes to a horse's light brown mane. As a verb, brown means "to become browner in color" or "to make browner," as when you brown the top of a pie in the oven.

Example Sentences

There are no swarms of workers picking goods off shelves and packing orders, nor towering storage shelves filled with brown cardboard boxes.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

The brown butter streusel forms a craggy, golden crown—nutty, crisp, just salted enough to keep things interesting.

From Salon • Apr. 28, 2026

Those law-enforcement agencies that have worked hard to build bridges with youth, immigrant, and Black and brown communities are seeing their efforts undermined by ICE.

From Slate • Apr. 27, 2026

He warned that other animals could now come under attack, including the Marsican brown bear - a critically endangered species considered a symbol of the Abruzzo national park.

From BBC • Apr. 24, 2026

His milky brown eyes, flecked with green, peer at me from behind his thick lashes.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam