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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

• browns
  plural

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,
  comparative
• brownest
  superlative

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)

• browns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• browned,
  past participle,  past
• browning
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• browns
  plural

Adjectives

• browner
  comparative
• brownest
  superlative

Participles

• browning
  present
• browned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• brown
  simple
• browns
  simple
• have browned
  perfect
• has browned
  perfect
• am browning
  progressive
• are browning
  progressive
• is browning
  progressive
• have been browning
  perfect progressive
• has been browning
  perfect progressive

Past

• browned
  simple
• had browned
  perfect
• was browning
  progressive
• were browning
  progressive
• had been browning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will brown
  simple
• will have browned
  perfect
• will be browning
  progressive
• will have been browning
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

brown Brown browns browner brownest browned browning

Mature trees that take decades to establish are drooping, and some have leaves turning brown in August in a stress reaction to excessive heat.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Here, they get cooked with butter, brown sugar, orange zest and salt until glossy and jammy, then folded into a simple sour cream cake scented generously with cardamom.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Forest fires have also been reported in Croatia, Spain and Serbia since Friday, after a summer of extreme heat which has seen swathes of land across Europe either going up in flames or scorched brown.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Alaska’s Lake Clark National Park is a pristine home to brown bears, horned puffins and beluga whales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

Regan and I turned to see the small speck of brown in the distance that was getting larger by the minute.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Another member is Priscilla Sims Brown, the CEO of Amalgamated Bank, and the only active head of a bank.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026

Former England internationals David James, Wes Brown and Lee Hendrie have all been declared bankrupt, while former Liverpool team-mate Emile Heskey lost a legal battle over an unpaid £1.637m tax bill in 2024.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

The National Economic Council was created by the Gordon Brown administration in 2008, and has been revived by Burnham.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

And as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson warned in her solo dissenting opinion from the per curiam order, the real issue is not that the court punted a decision on the merits here.

From Slate ● Aug. 26, 2026

The usher sent the card in to Brown along with the cards of everyone else in the reception room.

From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow

They fell in love with the hash browns at Waffle House.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026

Paramount Caviar’s kosher salmon roe adds a delicious salty, briny pop to deviled eggs, hash browns with whipped cream cheese and dill, or toast points with crème fraîche.

From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026

In contrast, the living room offers a calmer palette of sky blues and earthy browns.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

Breakfast options include the sausage McMuffin, sausage biscuit, sausage burrito, hash browns, and a medium coffee—all at under $3 each.

From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026

From blue skies to golds and greens and browns.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

Elsewhere, the data highlights more localised hotspots of stress around Peterborough, Lincolnshire and parts of mid and east Devon, where fields also appear significantly browner than a year ago.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

We found that in browner waters, fish often grow more slowly.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026

More than a few bore tans so dark that they were browner than me.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2025

Melanomas typically look darker or browner than basal cell carcinomas, Connolly said, but patients should bring any lesion they’re worried about to a dermatologist’s attention.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2024

And browner than a serf in summer, I swear it.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

“I’m not going to be supportive of defunding cultural events in the brownest city in Orange County and making the public choose between celebrating our culture or giving mutual aid,” said Councilmember Johnathan Hernandez.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2025

"I'd look at certain celebrities who've got like white decor in the house, I'm like, 'who would choose white? I've gone for the brownest brown so that it hides the dirt," she said.

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2024

Young, rich Stephen Carlton Clark had married Susan Hun, descendant of brownest, trimmest Albany ancestors.

From Time Magazine Archive

He ate the biggest, brownest and best parts of the chicken at every Sunday meal.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

In Hawaiian, “maka” means eyes, and Kumu Maka’s are the biggest and brownest.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Add the onions directly into the browned bits left behind in the pot and cook until softened and golden, about 6–8 minutes.

From Salon ● May 19, 2026

The dish, made of browned ground beef, rice and basically whatever else you have on hand, has inspired hundreds of posts since January.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

Case in point: Stevens’ recipe for a decadent baked, stuffed tomato that’s generously filled with herbed breadcrumbs, creamy stracciatella and browned chorizo.

From Salon ● Apr. 6, 2026

Chicken breasts for the enchiladas and soups get grilled, pork or beef browned and drained.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2025

I was sitting at the kitchen counter while Dad chopped vegetables and Mom browned some beef in a skillet.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green

Even zoomed-out satellite imagery of western France shows a striking increase in the browning of land compared to last year.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

But freshwater browning doesn’t affect all species of fish equally.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026

That browning occurs when PPO reacts with oxygen after the fruit is cut or bruised.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2025

Potatoes need to be plucked from the ground and handled with care to prevent browning that can mar otherwise perfect chips.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2025

Mist's dulling the gold leaves and browning the reds.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell