brun

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bʁœ̃/^[1]
• IPA (France, Northern, Paris): /bʁɛ̃/^[1]
• IPA (Quebec): /bʀœ̃˞/^[1]

Forms

brun (feminine brune, masculine plural bruns, feminine plural brunes)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French brun, inherited from Late Latin brunus, the latinized form of a Germanic word meaning “brown” (Wiktionary gives the Frankish form *brūn), probably brought into the Roman world by Germanic mercenaries, perhaps first for the colour of horses, together with other colour words such as blanc and bleu.^{[2][3][4][1][5]} The Latin form is recorded in the Reichenau glosses (8th century) and in a gloss attributed, doubtfully, to Isidore of Seville (6th century).^[2][3]

The Germanic word is seen in Old High German brūn (whence German braun), English brown, Dutch bruin and Old Norse brúnn, from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz, which also meant “shining”, of weapons;^[3][1] Rey traces it further to an Indo-European root meaning “bright; brown”.^[3][1] Cognate with Italian bruno, Spanish bruno and Occitan brun.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Both senses of the Germanic word appear in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100): “polished, shining”, of spear-heads and a haume d'acier brun, and “dark, between red and black”, of hair and complexion.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

The sense “polished”, which Rey thinks may have been brought by the Normans since it is also Old Norse and Old English, died out in the Middle Ages but survives in brunir and its technical derivatives.^[3][2] The nuance “dark, gloomy”, of the night, the sea or a room (about 1165), lasted until the 17th century, and the figurative “sad” until the 19th, leaving rembrunir.^[3] La brune, dusk, and à la brune “at nightfall” are found in the 15th century.^[6]

As a noun, a dark-haired person is found at the end of the 12th century, and le brun “the colour brown” in 1350–1375.^[2][3] In the 20th century it is used, opposed to blond, of dark beer and tobacco, and the brown shirts of the Nazis gave it the sense “fascist”.^[3][7]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – “Polished” and “dark brown”, in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1165 – “Dark, gloomy”, of the night.^[3]
• Late 12th century – A dark-haired person.^[2]
• 1350–1375 – Le brun, the colour.^[2]
• 1502 – A brown pigment in painting.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Brown, dark, between red and black: la couleur brune de la châtaigne, ours brun.^[7][8]
2. Dark-haired; of complexion, dark, tanned: elle est très brune.^[7][9]
3. Of beer or tobacco, dark: bière brune, tabac brun.^[7][8]
4. (politics) Fascist, of the extreme right, after the Nazis' brown shirts.^[7]
5. (dated, literary) Dark, gloomy.^[2][9]

Noun

1. The colour brown.^[9][10]
2. A dark-haired man, une brune, a brunette, une brune, also a dark beer or cigarette.^[7][1]
3. À la brune: at dusk.^[6]

Word family

• brunir
• brunet
• brunâtre
• rembrunir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/1, 306b
6. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)