/ˈbɹaːn/ Pittsburgh, General South African, /aʊ̯/-monophthongization
/bɹuːn/ (Northumbria)
Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-?
Proto-Germanic *brūnaz
Proto-West Germanic *brūn
Old English brūn
Middle English broun
English brown
Inherited from Middle English broun, from Old English brūn (“brown; dark; dusky”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūn, from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-. Doublet of bruin.
Cognates
* Dutch bruin
* German braun
* Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish brun
* Ancient Greek φρύνη (phrúnē), φρῦνος (phrûnos, “toad”)
* Latin brunneus (“brown”)
* Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)
* Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú, “reddish-brown”)
* West Frisian brún
Meanings
Having a brown color/colour.
But none of those brown dwarfs were speeding along on a trajectory that would carry them out of the galaxy like “runaway” hypervelocity stars observed by astronomers in the last two decades. 2024 August 21, Ashley Strickland, “An unusual object is moving so fast it could escape the Milky Way. Scientists aren’t certain what it is”, in CNN, archived from the original on 24 Aug 2024:
(obsolete) Gloomy.
(US, capitalized, sometimes) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin. ▸ Latino/Latin American
Reminds me of the time they asked me and a group of other Latino, predominantly Mexican, friends for our passports when we tried to go to their [expletive] party a little over a year ago.[…]
The saddest part is that I don’t think they understand why it’s insulting to ask a brown person for a passport. 2015 November 2 [2014], Susan Svrluga, quoting Ivonne Gonzalez, “Students accuse Yale SAE fraternity brother of saying ‘white girls only’ at party door”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Nov 2015, Grade Point:
(US, broadly, capitalized, qualifier:vague, sometimes) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin. ▸ of color.
By Saad’s accounting – and this is not dissimilar from the white nationalist “great replacement theory” – western societies are bringing about their own destruction by admitting immigrants from poorer, browner and more Muslim countries. 2025 April 8, Julia Carrie Wong, “Loathe thy neighbor: Elon Musk and the Christian right are waging war on empathy”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2025:
(capitalized, of Asians and Africans, sometimes) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin. ▸ South Asian or sometimes Middle Eastern or North African
What’s interesting, when you look past all the hysterical bullshit about brown people and trans kids and the imaginary woke mind virus, is that Hanson’s new converts in Farrer and South Australia are angry about the same shit as everyone else, whether that’s a Lebanese-Australian bricklayer in Claymore, an Indian dental nurse in Ipswich, or some lentil-muffin-eating, lumpy-jumper-wearing goat yoga enthusiast in Teal Town. 2026 June 3, John Birmingham, “Neoliberalism ate the world. Enter: Pauline Hanson”, in Crikey, archived from the original on 22 Jun 2026:
I think they sort of realized like, oh, we have Aasif who is a Muslim, an American, brown person, you know, who can sit on that fence between cultures and sort of talk about what it is--what this is from the perspective of being an insider and an outsider at the same time.[…]
I think there is in the sort of South Asian, you know, psyche, a kind of adoration of Western ideals and culture that was sort of implanted into us by the British, you know, and this idea that everything that is Western is superior and better than what we have and what India--you know, what is true to our own culture. 2021 September 9, Aasif Mandvi, quotee, “Transcript: Race in America: Giving Voice with Aasif Mandvi”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 25 Mar 2023:
(capitalized, of East-Eurasian ancestry, sometimes) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin. ▸ Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, or sometimes Native American
I came to deeply embrace anti-racism in slow, sustained increments.
To do so, I had to embrace my own identity as a Brown person -- and understand my own complicity in white supremacy.[…]
I had grown up in an entire Southeast Asian culture that had largely been groomed, indoctrinated and brainwashed into white-centered thinking over some 450 years of colonization by our Western overlords: Spain for almost 400 years, and then the United States of America for nearly 50 years more. 2020 September 25, Eric J. Daza, “How A 'Secret Asian Man' Embraced Anti-Racism”, in LAist, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2021, Essays:
Not green (environmentally irresponsible); anti-green (against environmental protection).
Near-synonyms: nongreen, antigreen
Tesco and Sainsbury, two of Britain’s biggest retailers, are locked in a fierce battle to prove who is greener. Even BSkyB, the British satellite outpost of the distinctly brown Murdoch empire, has declared itself “carbon-neutral.” 2011, Adrian Wooldridge, Masters of Management: How the Business Gurus and Their Ideas Have Changed the World — for Better and for Worse, HarperCollins Business, page 48:
arz أسمر (having a brown color/colour) · cv хӑмӑр (having a brown color/colour) · cjs кӱрең (having a brown color/colour) · nds-de bruun (having a brown color/colour) · ky күрөң (having a brown color/colour) · hy շագանակագույն (having a brown color/colour) · mn бор (having a brown color/colour) · fo brúnur (having a brown color/colour) · rm brin (having a brown color/colour) · ca marró (having a brown color/colour) · kjh кӱрең (having a brown color/colour) · jv soklat (having a brown color/colour) · he חוּם (having a brown color/colour) · lou brun (having a brown color/colour) · te పింగళము (having a brown color/colour) · uz qoʻngʻir (having a brown color/colour) · om magaala (having a brown color/colour) · ja 褐色 (having a brown color/colour) · uk кори́чневий (having a brown color/colour) · af bruin (having a brown color/colour) · rm bregn (having a brown color/colour) · nl bruin (having a brown color/colour) · ta பழுப்பு (having a brown color/colour) · ang brūn (having a brown color/colour) · eu marroi (having a brown color/colour) · an marrón (having a brown color/colour) · mtq nu (having a brown color/colour) · nb brun (having a brown color/colour) · ru кори́чневый (having a brown color/colour) · ur بُھورا (having a brown color/colour) · gl marrón (having a brown color/colour) · hu barna (having a brown color/colour) · ro brun (having a brown color/colour) · gsw bruun (having a brown color/colour) · ms sawo (having a brown color/colour) · it marrone (having a brown color/colour) · es castaño (having a brown color/colour) · prs نَسْوَارِی (having a brown color/colour) · de braun (having a brown color/colour) · am ቡናይነት (having a brown color/colour) · gl castaño (having a brown color/colour) · es pardo (having a brown color/colour) · oc brun (having a brown color/colour) · mr कथ्था (having a brown color/colour) · sh мр̏к (having a brown color/colour) · ps نسواري (having a brown color/colour) · ne खैरो (having a brown color/colour) · tr kahverengi (having a brown color/colour) · ar سَمْرَاء (having a brown color/colour) · udm курень (having a brown color/colour) · ga donn (having a brown color/colour) · nn brun (having a brown color/colour) · yi ברוין (having a brown color/colour) · lt rudas (having a brown color/colour) · si දුඹුරු (having a brown color/colour) · et pruun (having a brown color/colour) · vo blonik (having a brown color/colour) · bg кафя́в (having a brown color/colour) · vo braunik (having a brown color/colour) · sco broon (having a brown color/colour) · la brunneus (having a brown color/colour) · lv brūns (having a brown color/colour) · tl kayumanggi (having a brown color/colour) · ug قوڭۇر (having a brown color/colour) · sk hnedý (having a brown color/colour) · sl rjav (having a brown color/colour) · mrj кӹрӓн (having a brown color/colour) · nn mørkebrun (having a brown color/colour) · es marrón (having a brown color/colour) · ka ყავისფერი (having a brown color/colour) · uk кашта́новий (having a brown color/colour) · nds-de brun (having a brown color/colour) · cmn 棕色 (having a brown color/colour) · lou maron (having a brown color/colour) · ja 茶色い (having a brown color/colour) · ti ቡናዊ (having a brown color/colour) · kn ಕಂದು (having a brown color/colour) · sq zeshkan (having a brown color/colour) · gu બદામી (having a brown color/colour) · be ка́ры (having a brown color/colour) · kw gorm (having a brown color/colour) · is brúnn (having a brown color/colour) · pt marrom (having a brown color/colour) · uk бу́рий (having a brown color/colour) · cs hnědý (having a brown color/colour) · ml കാക്കി (having a brown color/colour) · la ustīcius (having a brown color/colour) · ar بُنِّيّ (having a brown color/colour) · kmr qehweyî (having a brown color/colour) · it bruno (having a brown color/colour) · ar سُمْر (having a brown color/colour) · ps بور (having a brown color/colour) · da brun (having a brown color/colour) · vi nâu (having a brown color/colour) · kk қоңыр (having a brown color/colour) · ko 갈색의 (having a brown color/colour) · lb brong (having a brown color/colour) · mi parauri (having a brown color/colour) · ro maro (having a brown color/colour) · pt castanho (having a brown color/colour) · lij brûn (having a brown color/colour) · kmr çakar (having a brown color/colour) · tk goňur (having a brown color/colour) · prs قَهْوَهایِ (having a brown color/colour) · sh brȁon (having a brown color/colour) · rm brün (having a brown color/colour) · ru кашта́новый (having a brown color/colour) · xal күрң (having a brown color/colour) · uk ка́рий (having a brown color/colour) · my ညို (having a brown color/colour) · gd donn (having a brown color/colour) · th น้ำตาล (having a brown color/colour) · an pardo (having a brown color/colour) · gu ભૂરો (having a brown color/colour) · ota قوكور (having a brown color/colour) · crh qave renki (having a brown color/colour) · cmn 褐色 (having a brown color/colour) · sh бра̏он (having a brown color/colour) · pdt brun (nds) (having a brown color/colour) · ig brawu (having a brown color/colour) · fa-ira قَهْوِهای (having a brown color/colour) · sa कपिला (having a brown color/colour) · be кашта́навы (having a brown color/colour) · eo bruna (having a brown color/colour) · mh būrawūn (having a brown color/colour) · ms perang (having a brown color/colour) · fr marron (having a brown color/colour) · oc burèl (having a brown color/colour) · ba көрән (having a brown color/colour) · gl pardo (having a brown color/colour) · ast marrón (having a brown color/colour) · ms merah (having a brown color/colour) · inh бора (having a brown color/colour) · tg қаҳвагӣ (having a brown color/colour) · br gell (having a brown color/colour) · oc maurèl (having a brown color/colour) · fy brún (having a brown color/colour) · ms coklat (having a brown color/colour) · lo ນ້ຳຕານ (having a brown color/colour) · sq bojë kafe (having a brown color/colour) · srn broin (having a brown color/colour) · sh smȅđ (having a brown color/colour) · az darçını (having a brown color/colour) · la spādīx (having a brown color/colour) · hil abelyána (having a brown color/colour) · tt көрән (having a brown color/colour) · ru гнедо́й (having a brown color/colour) · sa श्याव (having a brown color/colour) · bn বাদামি (having a brown color/colour) · lkt ǧiyá (having a brown color/colour) · cic lakna (having a brown color/colour) · es café (having a brown color/colour) · qu sañi (having a brown color/colour) · kw gell (having a brown color/colour) · sv brun (having a brown color/colour) · pl brązowy (having a brown color/colour) · id cokelat (having a brown color/colour) · ang eorp (having a brown color/colour) · ru бу́рый (having a brown color/colour) · fi ruskea (having a brown color/colour) · ru кофе́йный (having a brown color/colour) · rsk кафови (having a brown color/colour) · br brun (having a brown color/colour) · qu ch'umpi (having a brown color/colour) · ru ка́рий (having a brown color/colour) · rsk браон (having a brown color/colour) · nn mørkbrun (having a brown color/colour) · ast castañu (having a brown color/colour) · sh сме̏ђ (having a brown color/colour) · pap bruin (having a brown color/colour) · mk кафен (having a brown color/colour) · cmn 咖啡色 (having a brown color/colour) · el καστανός (having a brown color/colour) · az qəhvəyi (having a brown color/colour) · km ត្នោត (having a brown color/colour) · nb mørkebrun (having a brown color/colour) · nb mørkbrun (having a brown color/colour) · ar أَسْمَر (having a brown color/colour) · kmr qehwerengî (having a brown color/colour) · el ορφνός (having a brown color/colour) · sh mȑk (having a brown color/colour) · mn хүрэн (having a brown color/colour) · es cafesoso (having a brown color/colour) · cy brown (having a brown color/colour) · hi भूरा (having a brown color/colour) · be кары́чневы (having a brown color/colour) · tk go–ur (having a brown color/colour) · fr brun (having a brown color/colour) · bho भुअर (having a brown color/colour)
brown en · NOUN
Pronunciation
/ˈbɹæʊ̯n/ Southern US, Midland US, Mid-Atlantic US, New York City, Australia, New Zealand, /aʊ̯/-fronting
/ˈbɹaːn/ Pittsburgh, General South African, /aʊ̯/-monophthongization
/bɹuːn/ (Northumbria)
Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-?
Proto-Germanic *brūnaz
Proto-West Germanic *brūn
Old English brūn
Middle English broun
English brown
Inherited from Middle English broun, from Old English brūn (“brown; dark; dusky”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūn, from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-. Doublet of bruin.
Cognates
* Dutch bruin
* German braun
* Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish brun
* Ancient Greek φρύνη (phrúnē), φρῦνος (phrûnos, “toad”)
* Latin brunneus (“brown”)
* Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)
* Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú, “reddish-brown”)
* West Frisian brún
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) A colour like that of chocolate or coffee.
He wore brown jeans for his birthday.
The browns and greens in this painting give it a nice woodsy feel.
(countable) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 4 points.
(uncountable) Black tar heroin.
(archaic, countable, slang) A copper coin.
"We've not had any breakfast,—won't you toss us down a brown?"—
That's what they call a penny in the streets of London Town. 1883, “The Omnibus”, in London Town:
I know there are many persons — some who are themselves poor — who 'never turn a beggar from their door,' but always give them a few browns (halfpence) or some scran (broken victuals). 1853, Charles John Chetwynd Talbot, Meliora, Or, Better Times to Come, page 247:
“To save a journey up the town, / A razor lent here for a brown: / But if you think the price too high, / I beg you won’t the razor try.” 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
(countable, uncountable) A brown horse or other animal.
[…] browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish. 1877, George Nevile, Horses and Riding, page 105:
(capitalized, countable, ethnic, informal, slur, sometimes) A person of mostly Latin American (or Latino), Middle Eastern/North African, South Asian, and sometimes Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, or rarely Native American descent; a brown-skinned person; someone of mulatto, or biracial appearance.
For example, a Brown Asian Caucus emerged at the inaugural National Conference on Asian American Mental Health in 1972 – where Filipinos were joined by Pacific Islanders who also felt marginalized as part of the Asian American/ Pacific Islander (AAPI) umbrella group. 2020, Kevin L. Nadal, The Brown Asian American Movement: Advocating for South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Filipino American Communities:
Many browns and blacks are immigrants — some of whom have not yet become naturalized citizens of the United States. 2005, Kristen A. Myers, Racetalk: Racism Hiding in Plain Sight:
(countable, uncountable) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae (formerly the family Satyridae), such as those of the genera Heteronympha and Melanitis.
(countable, informal, uncountable) A brown trout (Salmo trutta).
(as "the brown", countable, uncountable) A mass of birds or animals that may be indiscriminately fired at.
The temptation to have a shot into the brown was great. There was not a head there which was not a big one and the one by himself was not too easy a shot since it is always difficult to shoot when lying in soft snow. 1928, R. Pigot, Twenty-five Years Big Game Hunting, page 166:
My anger mounted at this, I opened the courtyard door and raised my musket to fire into the brown; I had loaded it with small shot, and if it had gone off that would have been the death of us and the ruin of all of us in the house. 1979, Kevin Andrews, Athens Alive, page 223:
(countable, uncountable) A brown dye or pigment.
(countable, uncountable) A pen, pencil, crayon, etc., made of brown pigment.
/ˈbɹaːn/ Pittsburgh, General South African, /aʊ̯/-monophthongization
/bɹuːn/ (Northumbria)
Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-?
Proto-Germanic *brūnaz
Proto-West Germanic *brūn
Old English brūn
Middle English broun
English brown
Inherited from Middle English broun, from Old English brūn (“brown; dark; dusky”), from Proto-West Germanic *brūn, from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-. Doublet of bruin.
Cognates
* Dutch bruin
* German braun
* Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish brun
* Ancient Greek φρύνη (phrúnē), φρῦνος (phrûnos, “toad”)
* Latin brunneus (“brown”)
* Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)
* Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú, “reddish-brown”)
* West Frisian brún
Meanings
(intransitive) To become brown.
The chicken was browning nicely, the skin beginning to crisp and take on the toasty tones of oiled wood. 2006, Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Penguin Press, →ISBN, page 269:
Fry the onions until they brown.
Don't microwave your milk too long
It browns and bubbles over 2019, Patricia Taxxon, “Cold Water”, in Doraemon:
(childish) Synonym of poop (“to defecate”).
I've just browned myself.
(transitive) To cook something until it becomes brown.
Pound an onion, warm a spoonful of ghee and throw in the onion, brown it slightly, add your curry stuff, brown this till it smells pleasantly, […] 1887, Indian Cookery "Local" for Young Housekeepers: Second Edition, page 67:
(intransitive, transitive) To tan.
Light-skinned people tend to brown when exposed to the sun.
(transitive) To make brown or dusky.
A trembling twilight o'er the welkin moves, / Browns the dim void and darkens deep the groves. 1807, Joel Barlow, The Columbiad:
(transitive) To give a bright brown colour to, as to gun barrels, by forming a thin coating of oxide on their surface.
It is mixed uniformly with olive oil, and rubbed upon the iron slightly heated, which is afterwards exposed to the air, till the wished-for degree of browning is produced. 1860, Andrew Ure, Ure’s Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines, page 463:
(derogatory, ethnic, intransitive, offensive, slang, slur, transitive, usually) To turn progressively more Hispanic or Latino, in the context of the population of a geographic region.
fi ruskistaa (to cook until brown) · da brune (to become brown) · el ροδίζω (to cook until brown) · de anbräunen (to cook until brown) · vi trở nên màu nâu (to become brown) · lou kwi (to cook until brown) · de bräunen (to cook until brown) · es dorar (to cook until brown) · gl esturruxar (to cook until brown) · pl przyrumieniać (to cook until brown) · mh kabūrawūn (to become brown) · sv bryna (to cook until brown) · ota اوتولمك (to cook until brown) · fr brunir (to become brown) · pl przypiec (to cook until brown) · pl zbrązowieć (to become brown) · ga donnaigh (to cook until brown) · ca enrossir (to cook until brown) · sk zhnednúť (to become brown) · ca s'enrossir (to become brown) · fr faire roussir (to cook until brown) · tr karamelize olmak (to cook until brown) · el μαυρίζω (to become brown) · nl bruin worden (to become brown) · pl przyrumienić (to cook until brown) · da brune (to cook until brown) · fo brúnka (to become brown) · vo braunikön (to become brown) · gl dourar (to cook until brown) · es pardear (to become brown) · pl brązowieć (to become brown) · el σκουραίνω (to become brown) · fr faire dorer (to cook until brown) · vo braunükön (to cook until brown) · cs zhnědnout (to become brown) · fr faire revenir (to cook until brown) · el κοκκινίζω (to cook until brown) · yi ברוינען זיך (to become brown) · nl bruinbakken (to cook until brown) · cs zhnědnout (to cook until brown) · fo brúnka (to cook until brown) · pt dourar (to cook until brown) · tr kahverengileşmek (to become brown) · de anbräunen (to become brown) · pl przypiekać (to cook until brown) · cic lakna (to become brown) · fa قهوهای شدن (to become brown) · de bräunen (to become brown) · it dorare (to cook until brown) · tr karamelize etmek (to become brown) · it rosolare (to cook until brown) · pl zapiec (to cook until brown) · lkt ǧiyÁ (to cook until brown) · fi ruskistua (to become brown) · gl rustrir (to cook until brown) · ga donnaigh (to become brown) · pt acastanhar (to become brown)