From Middle English broun, from Old English brūn, from Proto-West Germanic *brūn, from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-.

• Dutch bruin
• German braun
• Ancient Greek φρύνη, φρῦνος
• Latin brunneus
• Lithuanian bė́ras
• Sanskrit बभ्रु
• Western Frisian brún

• IPA: /bɹaʊn/

brown

1. (countable and uncountable) A colour like that of chocolate or coffee.

   The browns and greens in this painting give it a nice woodsy feel.

    

2. (snooker, countable) One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 4 points.
3. (uncountable) Black tar heroin.
4. (slang, archaic, countable) A copper coin.
   • 1853, Charles John Chetwynd Talbot, Meliora, Or, Better Times to Come, page 247:

     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).

5. A brown horse or other animal.
6. (sometimes capitalised, countable, informal, ethnic slur) A person of Latino, Middle Eastern or South Asian descent; a brown-skinned person; someone of mulatto or biracial appearance.
   • 2005, Kristen A. Myers, Racetalk: Racism Hiding in Plain Sight:

     Many browns and blacks are immigrants — some of whom have not yet become naturalized citizens of the United States.

7. (entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae (formerly the family Satyridae).
8. (entomology) Any of certain species of nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae, such as those of the genera Heteronympha and Melanitis.
9. (informal) A brown trout (Salmo trutta).
10. (hunting, as "the brown") A mass of birds or animals that may be indiscriminately fired at.
    • 1928, R. Pigot, Twenty-five Years Big Game Hunting, page 166:

      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.

    • 1979, Kevin Andrews, Athens Alive, page 223:

      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.

• French: marron, brun
• German: Braun
• Italian: marrone, castano
• Portuguese: castanho, marrom
• Russian: кори́чневый
• Spanish: marrón, café (Bolivia), canelo (the Canary Islands), carmelita (Cuba), carmelito (Colombia), (for hair) castaño, (for brown bear) pardo, (for skin) moreno, (for suntanned skin) bronceado, moreno (Spain)

brown (comparative browner, superlative brownest)

1. Having a brown colour.
2. (obsolete) Gloomy.
3. (sometimes capitalized) Of or relating to any of various ethnic groups having dark pigmentation of the skin.
   1. (US) Latino
   2. (of Asians) South Asian or sometimes Middle Eastern or North African
   3. (of East-Eurasian ancestry) Southeast Asian

• French: brun, marron
• German: braun
• Italian: marrone, bruno
• Portuguese: castanho, marrom
• Russian: кори́чневый
• Spanish: marrón, café, pardo, castaño

brown (browns, present participle browning; simple past and past participle browned)

1. (intransitive) To become brown.

   Synonyms: embrown, brownify

   Fry the onions until they brown.

2. (cooking, transitive) To cook something until it becomes brown.
   • 1887, Indian Cookery "Local" for Young Housekeepers: Second Edition, page 67:

     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, […]

3. (intransitive, transitive) To tan.

   Light-skinned people tend to brown when exposed to the sun.

4. (transitive) To make brown or dusky.

   Synonyms: embrown

5. (transitive) To give a bright brown colour to, as to gun barrels, by forming a thin coating of oxide on their surface.
6. (demography, transitive, intransitive, slang, ethnic slur, usually, derogatory, offensive) To turn progressively more Hispanic or Latino, in the context of the population of a geographic region.

   the browning of America

• brunet
• burnet

• French: brunir
• German: bräunen, anbräunen
• Portuguese: acastanhar
• Spanish: pardear

• French: faire dorer, faire revenir, faire roussir
• German: bräunen, anbräunen
• Italian: rosolare, dorare
• Portuguese: dourar
• Spanish: dorar

From Middle English Broun, originally a nickname for someone with brown hair or a dark complexion.

1. (countable) Surname.
   1. Surname.
   2. Surname of Anglo-Norman origin, a translation of de Brún.
2. A locale in US.
   1. An ucomm in California, ;.
   2. An ucomm in Louisiana, ;.
   3. An ucomm in Oklahoma, ;.
   4. An ucomm in West Virginia, ;.
   5. A ghost town in Nevada.
   6. A number of townships in the USA, listed under Brown Township.
3. Brown University.

• Russian: Бра́ун

• French: Lebrun, Brun, Brunet
• German: Braun, Braune, Brun, Brune, Bruhn
• Italian: Bruno, Bruni, Brunetti, Moro, Mori, Marrone, Mora, Moretti
• Portuguese: Castanho, Moreno
• Spanish: Castaño, Moreno, Pardo

brown (plural browns)

brown

1. (chiefly, US, , often, Canada and UK)