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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

It has tubs of brown butter, frozen flat or portioned into little pucks, ready to make a weeknight bowl of noodles taste as if someone planned better than you did.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

During winter, when trees and shrubs have lost their leaves, the insects' oothecae, brown, spongy egg cases measuring about 2 to 3 cm, become easy to spot on branches.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026

Excursions with Vail Valley Anglers, booked through the hotel, offer a chance to cast for brown and rainbow trout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Wearing her blue harness, this restless brown Labrador retriever ventures into the debris of buildings that collapsed in the earthquakes of June 24.

From Barron's ● Jul. 5, 2026

He tossed his brown carpetbag past me into the hall, seized my hand, and drew me out into the June sunshine.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

“Lalovavi,” a first opera for both composer Kevin Day and librettist Tifara Brown, is an Afrofuturist fantasy with nods to the “Black Panther” movies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

To determine whether those findings apply more broadly, researchers from USC worked with colleagues at Brown University and Johns Hopkins University to examine data from both high income and low and middle income countries.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026

Fenton brought along his up-tempo, no-huddle offense from Los Alamitos, and quarterbacks Ezrah Brown and Reagan Toki were executing it in midseason form.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

“There’s a current of emotion that runs through the process. It’s their baby,” Brown said.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 10, 2026

Kayla Brown plopped a paper on the teacher’s desk then sat behind me.

From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott

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

As it turns out, even the most committed skeptic can be won over by a plate of greasy, crisp hash browns, a perfectly smoked brisket or a side of ranch.

From Salon ● Jun. 17, 2026

But I love a boiled egg in the morning with either avocado or hash browns.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026

"I don't mean rainbow colors, but you know, dark browns or tan colors because that tells us something about the composition, and that tells us something about the history of the Moon."

From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026

From blue skies to golds and greens and browns.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

People fishing in browner lakes may consider appealing to the senses of the fish that are likely to be in the water.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026

Mamdani's retort is that he's more like a Scandinavian politician, only browner.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025

Yukon is the smallest and browner, while Marty and Monty are gray.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2023

Today, how Southern Californians will have to get used to browner lawns — and why even that might not make a dent in a historic drought.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2022

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

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

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

I hug Spot, then look into his brownest eyes.

From "Ninth Ward" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Add the chorizo and cook, breaking it apart with a spoon, until browned and slightly crisp at the edges, about 5–7 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

It needs only a brief bloom — fragrant, not browned.

From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2026

Reach for a rotisserie chicken or sauté fresh cubes in your skillet so you get those savory browned bits that make a cream sauce sing.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025

The bicycle-riders drank much wine, and were burned and browned by the sun.

From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway

Brook trout abundance was not affected by freshwater browning.

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

Over the years, I began experimenting — adding fresh or dried herbs, browning the butter, or tossing in a splash of stock or broth.

From Salon ● Dec. 9, 2024

Each one of our steps leaves deep footprints in the browning sand, another imperfection along with the streaks of dirt, tufts of grass, and collections of mossy rocks on the beach.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer