brown

brown · noun, adjective, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰerH-?
2. Proto-Germanic*brūnaz
3. Proto-West Germanic*brūn
4. Old Englishbrūn
5. Middle Englishbroun
6. English todaybrown

Inherited 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 * Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish brun * Ancient Greek φρύνη (phrúnē), φρῦνος (phrûnos, “toad”) * Latin brunneus (“brown”) * Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”) * Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú, “reddish-brown”) * West Frisian brún

Brown · proper noun, noun, adjective²

1. German · derived fromBraun
2. Middle English · inherited fromBroun
3. English todayBrown

From Middle English Broun, originally a nickname for someone with brown hair or a dark complexion. In the United States, sometimes an anglicization and translation of German Braun. Doublet of Bruno and Braun.

Words from the same roots