brown

A1 Topic:Food & Drink

US /ˈbɹæʊ̯n/ UK /ˈbɹaʊ̯n/ See IPA manual

verb noun adj Freq #1587

Meanings

1

adj
Having the colour of chocolate, coffee, or earth

She has long brown hair.
2

noun
The colour of chocolate, coffee, or earth

The browns and greens in the painting give it a warm, woodsy feel.
3

verb
To cook food until its surface turns brown

Brown the meat in the pan before adding the sauce.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms brownedbrownerbrownestbrowningbrownishbrownswhity-brown

Derived forms anti-brownbrown-bagbrown-baggerbrown-billbrown-brownbrown-eyedbrown-hairedbrown-nosebrown-noserbrown-outbrownablebrownback

Related forms auburnbrunetburnetgoldingmahogany tawny

Common collocations

brown bear Adjective + noun

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

*bʰerH- Proto-Indo-European broun Middle English brūn Old English *brūn Proto-West Germanic *brūnaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink

# brown

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun, adj
**IPA (US):** ˈbɹæʊ̯n
**IPA (UK):** ˈbɹaʊ̯n
**Frequency rank:** 1587

## Meanings
1. Having the colour of chocolate, coffee, or earth
2. The colour of chocolate, coffee, or earth
3. To cook food until its surface turns brown

## Examples
- She has long brown hair.
- The browns and greens in the painting give it a warm, woodsy feel.
- Brown the meat in the pan before adding the sauce.

## Derived Forms
- anti-brown
- brown-bag
- brown-bagger
- brown-bill
- brown-brown
- brown-eyed
- brown-haired
- brown-nose
- brown-noser
- brown-out
- brownable
- brownback

## Related Forms
- auburn
- brunet
- burnet
- golding
- mahogany
- tawny

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *bʰerH-
- Root: broun
- Root: brūn
- Root: *brūn
- Root: *brūnaz

## 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

## AI Etymology
Brown comes 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.

## Topics
- Food & Drink

markdown