brown

[ broun ]

/ braʊn /

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See synonyms for brown on Thesaurus.com

noun

a dark tertiary color with a yellowish or reddish hue.

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

adjective, brown·er, brown·est.

of the color brown.

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

sunburned or tanned.

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

verb (used with or without object)

to make or become brown.

to fry, sauté, or scorch slightly in cooking: to brown onions before adding them to the stew. The potatoes browned in the pan.

Verb Phrases

brown out, to subject to a brownout: The power failure browned out the southern half of the state.

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Idioms about brown

browned off, Slang. angry; fed up.

do it up brown, Informal. to do thoroughly: When they entertain, they really do it up brown.

Origin of brown

before 1000; Middle English; Old English brūn; cognate with Dutch bruin,German braun,Old Norse brūnn; akin to Lithuanian brúnas brown

usage note for brown

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 WORDS FROM brown

brownish, browny, adjectivebrownness, nouno·ver·brown, verbun·browned, adjective

well-browned, adjective

Other definitions for brown (2 of 2)

Brown

[ broun ]

/ braʊn /

noun

Charles Brock·den

[brok-duhn], /ˈbrɒk dən/, 1771–1810, U.S. novelist.

Clifford "Brownie", 1930–56, U.S. jazz trumpeter.

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

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

James Nathaniel "Jimmy", born 1936, U.S. football player and actor.

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

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

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

Robert, 1773–1858, Scottish botanist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use brown in a sentence

Senior White House energy adviser Carol Browner said that the worst days of the BP oil spill may be behind us.
August 8: 7 Best Moments From Sunday Talk|The Daily Beast Video|August 8, 2010|DAILY BEAST
As I field final exam questions, a few of the browner students cast sidelong glances.
My Great Fake Bake Experiment|Daniel Nester|January 6, 2009|DAILY BEAST
It resembles the European rabbit in figure, and the hare by its size and colour, being only somewhat browner.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume IX (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
She was thinner now with this prairie life, and browner, and the ends of her hair were still yellowing, like that of outdoors men.
The Way of a Man|Emerson Hough

The young man was thinner, browner and harder of fiber than the Jones of two weeks previous.
Average Jones|Samuel Hopkins Adams
During all these days Sergius had grown thinner and browner.
The Lion's Brood|Duffield Osborne
In the torchlight she looked browner and more vigorous than when he had seen her last.
The Devil's Asteroid|Manly Wade Wellman

British Dictionary definitions for brown (1 of 2)

brown

/ (braʊn) /

noun

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

a dye or pigment producing these colours

brown cloth or clothingdressed in brown

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

adjective

of the colour brown

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

deeply tanned or sunburnt

verb

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

Derived forms of brown

brownish or browny, adjectivebrownness, noun

Word Origin for brown

Old English brūn; related to Old Norse brūnn, Old High German brūn, Greek phrunos toad, Sanskrit babhru reddish-brown

British Dictionary definitions for brown (2 of 2)

Brown

/ (braʊn) /

noun

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for brown

Brown

[ broun ]

Michael Born 1941

American geneticist. He shared a 1985 Nobel Prize for discoveries related to cholesterol metabolism.

Other Idioms and Phrases with brown

brown

In addition to the idioms beginning with brown

brown bagger
browned off
brownie points
brown nose
brown study, in a

also see:

do up (brown)

brown

Idioms about brown

Origin of brown

usage note for brown

OTHER WORDS FROM brown

Other definitions for brown (2 of 2)

Words related to brown

How to use brown in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for brown (1 of 2)

Derived forms of brown

Word Origin for brown

British Dictionary definitions for brown (2 of 2)

Medical definitions for brown

Other Idioms and Phrases with brown