brown (English, noun)
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɹaʊn/
rhymes: -aʊn
Etymology: 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
* Ancient Greek φρύνη (phrúnē), φρῦνος (phrûnos, “toad”)
* Latin brunneus (“brown”)
* Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)
* Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú, “reddish-brown”)
* West Frisian brún
Definitions: examples: text: The browns and greens in this painting give it a nice woodsy feel.
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type: example
text: brown:
glosses: A colour like that of chocolate or coffee.
tags: countable
uncountable
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
snooker
sports
glosses: One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 4 points.
tags: countable
glosses: Black tar heroin.
tags: uncountable
examples: text: “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.”
ref: 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:
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text: 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).
ref: 1853, Charles John Chetwynd Talbot, Meliora, Or, Better Times to Come, page 247:
type: quote
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text: "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.
ref: 1883, “The Omnibus”, in London Town:
type: quote
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glosses: A copper coin.
tags: archaic
countable
slang
examples: text: […] browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish.
ref: 1877, George Nevile, Horses and Riding, page 105:
type: quote
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glosses: A brown horse or other animal.
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: text: Many browns and blacks are immigrants — some of whom have not yet become naturalized citizens of the United States.
ref: 2005, Kristen A. Myers, Racetalk: Racism Hiding in Plain Sight:
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glosses: A person of Latino, Middle Eastern or South Asian descent; a brown-skinned person; someone of mulatto, or biracial appearance.
tags: capitalized
countable
ethnic
informal
slur
sometimes
topics: biology
entomology
natural-sciences
glosses: Any of various nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae (formerly the family Satyridae).
tags: countable
uncountable
topics: biology
entomology
natural-sciences
glosses: Any of certain species of nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae, such as those of the genera Heteronympha and Melanitis.
tags: countable
uncountable
glosses: A brown trout (Salmo trutta).
tags: countable
informal
uncountable
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1928, R. Pigot, Twenty-five Years Big Game Hunting, page 166:
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text: 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.
ref: 1979, Kevin Andrews, Athens Alive, page 223:
type: quote
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topics: hobbies
hunting
lifestyle
glosses: A mass of birds or animals that may be indiscriminately fired at.
tags: countable
uncountable
raw_tags: as "the brown"
Forms: form: browns
tags: plural