brow en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (General-American) audio
- /bɹaʊ/
Etymology
From Middle English browe, from Old English brū, from Proto-West Germanic *brāwu, from Proto-Germanic *brūwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“brow”). Cognate with Scots broo (“brow”), Dutch brauw (“brow”), German Braue (“eyebrow”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish bryn (“brow”), Faroese, Icelandic brún (“brow”). See also Middle Irish brúad, Tocharian B pärwāne (“eyebrows”), Lithuanian bruvi̇̀s, Serbo-Croatian obrva (“eyebrow”), Russian бровь (brovʹ, “brow”), Ancient Greek ὀφρύς (ophrús, “eyebrow”), Sanskrit भ्रू (bhrū, “eyebrow”)), Persian ابرو (abru, “eyebrow”), Khowar بروُ (bruú, “eyebrow”).
Meanings
- The bony ridge over the eyes, upon which the eyebrows are located.
-
The eyebrow.
’Tis not your inky brows, your black silk hair, / Your bugle eyeballs, nor your cheek of cream / That can entame my spirits to your worship.
c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v]:And his arch’d brow, pulled o’er his eyes, / With solemn proof proclaims him wise.
c. 1763, Charles Churchill, The Ghost:
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The forehead.
Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war, And thus hath so bestirr’d thee in thy sleep, That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow Like bubbles in a late-disturb’d stream,[…]
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:Mr. Banks’ panama hat was in one hand, while the other drew a handkerchief across his perspiring brow.
1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
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(figuratively) Aspect; appearance; facial expression.
Take it away; I'm frightened! / But she, with placid brow, / Cries: "This is our Kitty-witty! / Why don't you love her now?"
1919, Katherine Mansfield, “Friendship”, in J. Middleton Murry, editor, The Scrapbook of Katherine Mansfield, published 1940:
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The projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill.
the brow of a precipice
- The first tine of an antler's beam.
- A gallery in a coal mine running across the face of the coal.
- The gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay.
- The hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| brows | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
browline · Scouse brow · browbeat · monobrow · sweat of one's brow · browbone · underbrow · browbound · unibrow · low-brow · sweat of the brow · no-brow · brow-beat · eye brow · browlift · browband · medium-brow · middlebrow · Dobb Brow · highbrow · Weatherby brow · browless · browplasty · brow ridge · bibrow · brow-antlered deer · brow-ague · midbrow · Berry Brow · beetle-browed · browful · eyebrow · brow-level · browman · brow job · beetle brow · browbeaten · lowbrow · overbrow · browspot
Synonyms
Translations (24)
bg сходня (the gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay) · fr maître andouiller (first tine of an antler's beam) · bg надвиснала скала (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · pt pico (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · pdt Launtrigjen (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · it passerella da sbarco (the hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp) · mi kāniuniu (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · it orlo (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · fr andouiller de massacre (first tine of an antler's beam) · it cima (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · it ciglio (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · it passerella da sbarco (the gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay) · fi laskusilta (the gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay) · haw mūkaʻe (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · mi taumata (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · ga mala (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · fi ramppi (the hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp) · la supercilium (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · fi kieleke (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · fi reuna (the projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill) · ru трап (the gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay) · fr andouiller d'œil (first tine of an antler's beam) · es sobrecejo (the bony ridge over the eyes, upon which the eyebrows are located) · es sobreceja (the bony ridge over the eyes, upon which the eyebrows are located)