brown

brown
\ \ [OE] In Old English, brown meant, rather vaguely, ‘dark’; it does not seem to have become a definite colour word until the 13th century. It comes from West and North Germanic *brūnaz, which probably goes back ultimately to the same Indo-European source (*bheros) as bear, etymologically the ‘brown [that is, dark] animal’. An additional meaning of brown in Old and Middle English, shared also by related words such as Old High German brūn, was ‘shining, glistening’, particularly as applied to weapons (it survives in fossilized form in the old ballad Cospatrick, recorded in 1802: ‘my bonny brown sword’); Old French took it over when it borrowed brun from Germanic, and it is the basis of the verb burnir ‘polish’, from which English gets burnish [14]. Another contribution made by French brun to English is the feminine diminutive form brunette [17]. An earlier Old French variant burnete had previously been borrowed by English in the 12th century as burnet, and since the 14th century has been applied to a genus of plants of the rose family.
\ \ The term burnet moth is first recorded in 1842.
\ \ Cf.⇒ BEAR, BRUNETTE, BURNISH

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Brown — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda El término Brown puede referirse: en biografías a: Alfred Reginald Radcliffe Brown, antropólogo de  Reino Unido. Amy Brown, dibujante de …   Wikipedia Español

  • Brown — bezeichnet: einen englischen Familiennamen, siehe Brown (Familienname) das englische Wort für die Farbe Braun Brown v. Board of Education, ein Grundsatzurteil des obersten Gerichtshofes der USA zum Thema Rassentrennung (1643) Brown, einen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Brown — Brown, Herbert Charles Brown, James Brown, John Brown, Michael S. Brown, Robert * * * (as used in expressions) Brown v. Board of Education (de Topeka) Brown, Capability Lancelot Brown Brown, Charles Brockden …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • BROWN (T.) — BROWN Trisha (1936 ) Après les grands pionniers, Ruth Saint Denis, Ted Shawn, Martha Graham ou Doris Humphrey, ceux là même qui défrichèrent des espaces nouveaux en manifestant leur rébellion contre l’académisme, la danse moderne américaine – ou… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Brown — (broun), a. [Compar. {Browner}; superl. {Brownest}.] [OE. brun, broun, AS. br?n; akin to D. bruin, OHG. br?n, Icel. br?nn, Sw. brun, Dan. bruun, G. braun, Lith. brunas, Skr. babhru. [root]93, 253. Cf. {Bruin}, {Beaver}, {Burnish}, {Brunette}.] Of …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Brown —   [braʊn],    1) Alexander Crum, britischer Chemiker, * Edinburgh 26. 3. 1838, ✝ ebenda 28. 10. 1922; benutzte seit 1861 Strukturformeln mit Valenzstrichen, untersuchte die Isomerie chemische Verbindungen sowie die räumliche Anordnung von Atomen… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Brown — Brown, Capability (1716 83) a British garden designer, who planned many large and famous gardens in castles and large country houses in England Brown 2 Brown, Charlie trademark a character from the US ↑cartoon strip called ↑peanuts by Charles… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • brown — brown; brown·ette; brown·ian; brown·ie; brown·ish; brown·ism; brown·ist; brown·ly; brown·mil·ler·ite; brown·ness; em·brown; brown·field; brown·ing; brown·is·tic; …   English syllables

  • Brown HT — IUPAC name Disodium 4 [(2E) 2 [(5Z) 3 (hydroxymethyl) 2,6 dioxo 5 [(4 sulfonatonaphthalen 1 yl)hydrazinylide …   Wikipedia

  • Brown — Brown, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Browned}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Browning}.] 1. To make brown or dusky. [1913 Webster] A trembling twilight o er welkin moves, Browns the dim void and darkens deep the groves. Barlow. [1913 Webster] 2. To make brown by… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • BROWN (J.) — BROWN JOHN (1800 1859) Appartenant à une famille de seize enfants du Connecticut, John Brown est nourri dès son enfance des principes antiesclavagistes que lui inculque son père, tanneur et fermier, et auxquels il devait consacrer une bonne… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”