Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

brown

/ˈbɹaʊ̯n/

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: 5.01 in modern English

Syllables
brown
IPA
/ˈbɹaʊ̯n/
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A colour like that of chocolate or coffee.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

One of the colour balls used in snooker, with a value of 4 points.

Countable

noun

Black tar heroin.

Uncountable

noun

A copper coin.

Archaic; Countable; Slang

noun

A brown horse or other animal.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A person of mostly Latin American (or Latino), Middle Eastern/North African, South Asian, and sometimes Southeast Asian, Pacific Islander, or rarely Native American descent; a brown-skinned person; someone of mulatto, or biracial appearance.

Countable; Informal

noun

Any of various nymphalid butterflies of subfamily Satyrinae (formerly the family Satyridae), such as those of the genera Heteronympha and Melanitis.

Countable; Uncountable

noun

A brown trout (Salmo trutta).

Countable; Informal; Uncountable

Example Sentences

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH-? Proto-Germanic *brūnaz Proto-West Germanic *brūn Old English brūn Middle English broun English brown 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

Origin

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˈbɹaʊ̯n/
  • British English: /ˈbɹaʊ̯n/

Usage

Inflected Forms

browns (plural) broon (alternative, Northumbria) browner (comparative) more brown (comparative) brownest (superlative) most brown (superlative) browns (present, singular) browning (participle, present) browned (participle, past) browned (past) Browne (alternative) Broun (alternative)

Derived Forms

brownable brownback brownbill Browncoat brownette browneye brownface brownfield brownhead brownie brownification brownish

Phrases

anti-brown Arran brown Asian brown flycatcher Banks' brown big brown bat Bismarck brown black and brown Boston brown bread

Frequently Paired Words

brownfield auburn brunet burnet mahogany tawny golding Browne

Synonyms

nongreen antigreen embrown brownify poop browned brownish chocolate-brown dark-brown

Rhymes With

down top-down run-down town crown downtown clown gown drown noun browne uptown

Questions

How do you pronounce brown?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈbɹaʊ̯n/.
What does brown mean?
A colour like that of chocolate or coffee.
Where does brown come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce brown

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “brown”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈbɹaʊ̯n/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “brown”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “brown” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.