brown English · revision 2637

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 700|origins=ine-pro *bher-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /braʊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|broun]],^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|brūn|t=dark, dusky]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*brūnaz]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Dutch bruin, German braun and Old Norse brúnn,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*bher-|t=bright; brown]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) Barnhart and Merriam-Webster relate it to Greek phrýnē “toad” and Sanskrit babhrú “reddish-brown”,^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and it is related to [[bear]] and [[beaver]].^(Barnhart 1988) In Middle English it was reinforced by Old French brun, itself from Germanic.^(Hoad 1986) The Germanic word was borrowed into the Romance languages: Medieval Latin brunus, Italian and Spanish bruno, French brun.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English brūn is found in glossaries about 700,^(Barnhart 1988) meaning “dark, dusky”;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) it is in the surname Brunloc, “brown-haired”, before 1130.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English the word meant simply “dark”,^(Cresswell 2021) and also “shining”, a sense kept only in [[burnish]];^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) it took on a definite colour sense in the 13th century.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The idea of darkness led to “gloomy”, as in ''brown study'', “a state of deep thought”, from the 1530s.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) ''Brown sugar'' is from 1704, ''brown paper'' from the 1650s,^(Etymonline) and ''Brown Bess'', the British Army musket, is recorded by 1785.^(Etymonline) The noun, a brown thing, is from about 1300, and the colour itself from about 1600.^(Etymonline) In slang a copper coin was a brown from 1812.^(OED 1989) The verb, “to become brown”, is from about 1300, and “to make brown”, as in cooking, from the 1560s.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 700 – Old English brūn, dark.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 13th century – the colour sense.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – noun, a brown thing; verb, to become brown.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1530s – ''brown study''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1560s – verb, to make brown.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – noun, the colour brown.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650s – ''brown paper''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1704 – ''brown sugar''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of a colour like wood or [[earth]], between red and yellow and fairly dark.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Having a dark or [[suntan|alt=suntanned]] skin.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The colour brown, or a brown [[pigment]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make or become brown.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # To cook until brown.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[brownish]]

+ * [[brownness]]

+ * [[browny]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[brownfield]]

+ * [[brunet]]

+ * [[burnet]]

+ * [[tawny]]

+ * [[mahogany]]

+ * [[auburn]]

+ * [[burnish]]

+ * [[brunette]]

+ * [[bruin]]

+ * [[bear]]

+ * [[beaver]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}