brownie

[brou-nee]

noun

1. (in folklore) a tiny, fanciful, good-natured brown elf who secretly helps at night with household chores.

2. a small, chewy, cakelike cookie, usually made with chocolate and containing nuts.

3. Australian.,  a bread with currants, baked in a camp oven.

4. Sometimes Brownie a member of the junior division of the Girl Scouts or the Girl Guides, being a girl in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade and usually between six and eight years old.

brownie

¹

/ ˈbraʊnɪ /

noun

1. (in folklore) an elf said to do helpful work at night, esp household chores

2. a small square nutty chocolate cake

3. history a bread made with currants

Brownie

²

/ ˈbraʊnɪ /

noun

1. another name for Brownie Guide

2. (formerly) a popular make of simple box camera

Word History and Origins

Origin of brownie¹

First recorded in 1520–30; brown + -ie; in folkloric sense, originally Scots

Word History and Origins

Origin of brownie¹

C16: diminutive of _brown (that is, a small brown man)

Synonym Study

See fairy.

Example Sentences

More than 1,000 items will be sold under the new label, Amazon said, including eggs, honey, potatoes, rice and brownies, with most priced under $5.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

They also offer pastries, like a chocolate chip brownie, sausage egg & cheese croissant and a banana yogurt loaf.

Read more on Salon

"I've been hiding powdered mushrooms in everything. Mixed into chocolate brownies yesterday, the kids had no idea," she wrote in one.

Read more on BBC

Derivative products like brownies and gummies are offered openly online – although this is technically illegal – and can be delivered to your door within an hour.

Read more on BBC

The mother-of-two also spoke about putting powdered dried mushrooms into a range of foods like spaghetti, brownies and stew, which prosecutors allege was practice for the fatal lunch.

Read more on BBC

When To Use

What is a brownie?

A brownie is a small, chewy chocolate cake-like dessert that often includes nuts, as in We loved Nana’s brownies so much that we begged her to make them for every party. In British folklore, a brownie is a tiny, brown elf that secretly assists with chores during the night, as in I once heard a fairy tale about a brownie who helped a cobbler clean his workshop.  Example: The first thing I learned to bake was brownies, and I still love to bake them.