brun French · revision 17526

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=gem-pro *brūnaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʁœ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (France, Northern, Paris): /bʁɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): /bʀœ̃˞/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''brun''' (feminine brune, masculine plural bruns, feminine plural brunes)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|brun]], [[inh|la-lat|brunus]], the latinized form of a Germanic word meaning “brown” (Wiktionary gives the Frankish form [[m|frk|*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]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|15/1, 306b) The Latin form is recorded in the Reichenau glosses (8th century) and in a gloss attributed, doubtfully, to Isidore of Seville (6th century).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The Germanic word is seen in [[goh|brūn]] (whence [[de|braun]]), [[en|brown]], [[nl|bruin]] and [[non|brúnn]], from [[gem-pro|*brūnaz]], which also meant “shining”, of weapons;^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Rey traces it further to an Indo-European root meaning “bright; brown”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[it|bruno]], [[es|bruno]] and [[oc|brun]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) 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]].^(DHLF 1992) ''La brune'', dusk, and ''à la brune'' “at nightfall” are found in the 15th century.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ 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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) 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”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – “Polished” and “dark brown”, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – “Dark, gloomy”, of the night.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * Late 12th century – A dark-haired person.^(TLFi)

+ * 1350–1375 – ''Le brun'', the colour.^(TLFi)

+ * 1502 – A brown pigment in painting.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|brown|alt=Brown]], dark, between red and black: ''la couleur brune de la châtaigne'', ''ours brun''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # Dark-haired; of complexion, dark, tanned: ''elle est très brune''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Of beer or tobacco, dark: ''bière brune'', ''tabac brun''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(politics)'' [[m|en|fascist|alt=Fascist]], of the extreme right, after the Nazis' brown shirts.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(dated, literary)'' Dark, gloomy.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour brown.^(GLLF 1989)^(Larousse)

+ # A dark-haired man, ''une brune'', a [[m|en|brunette]], ''une brune'', also a dark beer or cigarette.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''À la brune'': at [[m|en|dusk]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[brunir]]

+ * [[brunet]]

+ * [[brunâtre]]

+ * [[rembrunir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}