Dictionary Definition
brown adj : of a color similar to that of wood or
earth [syn: brownish,
dark-brown]
Noun
1 an orange of low brightness and saturation
[syn: brownness]
2 Scottish botanist who first observed the
movement of small particles in fluids now known a Brownian motion
(1773-1858) [syn: Robert
Brown]
3 abolitionist who was hanged after leading an
unsuccessful raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (1800-1858) [syn:
John
Brown]
4 a university in Rhode Island [syn: Brown
University] v : fry in a pan until it changes color; "brown the
meat in the pan"
User Contributed Dictionary
Scots
Extensive Definition
Brown, when used as a general term, is a color
that is a dark yellow, orange,
or red, of low luminance relative to lighter
or white colored objects.
Some amber and
yellow colors of lower saturation
are called light browns.
Brown
The color brown is displayed on the right.Brown paint can be produced by adding black or
their complementary
colors to rose, red, orange, or yellow colored paint. As a
color of low intensity it is a tertiary
color in the original technical sense: a mix of the three
subtractive primary
colors is brown if the cyan content is low. Brown exists
as a color perception only in the presence of a brighter color
contrast: yellow, orange, red, or rose objects are still perceived
as such if the general illumination level is low, despite
reflecting the same amount of red or orange light as a brown object
would in normal lighting conditions.
The first recorded use of brown as a color name
in English
was in AD 1000.
Variations of brown
Pale brown
Displayed at right is the color pale brown.Dark brown
Displayed at right is the color dark brown.Brown in culture
Animal Rights- The Brown Dog affair was a political controversy about vivisection that raged in Edwardian England from 1903 until 1910.
- The planet Jupiter has orange, red, and brown coloration in its clouds.
- Astronomers have recently detected the existence of the long theorized formerly hypothetical but now known to be actual astronomical objects called brown dwarfs, which are intermediate in mass between a gas giant planet and a star.
- Pullman Brown is the color of the United Parcel Service (UPS) delivery company with their trademark brown trucks and uniforms. UPS has filed two trademarks on the color brown to prevent other shipping companies (and possibly other companies in general) from using the color if it creates "market confusion." In its advertising, UPS refers to itself as "Brown" ("What can Brown do for you?").
- Brownfields are abandoned, idled, or under-used industrial and commercial facilities where redevelopment for infill housing is complicated by real or perceived environmental contaminations.
- Ubuntu is well known for its default brown color scheme. The exact shades have changed from release to release, with a general trend towards lighter colors and 'shiny' graphics.
Cooking
- Browning (partial cooking) is a process to remove excess fat from meat by heating, as under a broiler or in a frying pan, until it turns brown.
- Brown is sometimes used to refer to brown people in general or sometimes more specifically to the darker skinned Indo-Aryan and Dravidian of South Asia or to Latin Americans.
- The term brown or bronze may be used by mestizo Hispanics to describe themselves, and by extension these terms may sometimes be applied to all Hispanics, even those of purely European ancestry.
- Austronesians in the 19th Century and 20th Century were often referred to as the Malayan race or brown race. (A term for Austronesians often used today is Maritime Asian.)
- In her 1942 Glossary of Harlem Slang, Zora Neale Hurston placed "high yaller" at the beginning of the entry for her African American colorscale, which ran:
- Chocolate is often associated with the color brown.
- Brownies are a favorite dessert.
- Boston brown bread is a popular bread made with molasses that is often sold in cans.
- In the billiard game of Snooker the 4-point snooker ball is brown.
- Four shades of brown is the title of a Swedish film from 2004
- Little Brown Jug is a drinking song written in 1869 by Joseph Winner.
- Brown Sugar is one of the most popular songs by the Rolling Stones (Album: Sticky Fingers).
- The song "Brown Eyed Girl" is by the artist Van Morrison (Album: Blowin' Your Mind!).
- The song "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver" is by the artist Primus (Album: Tales from the Punchbowl).
Nature
- Many soils are brown.
- Many kinds of wood and the bark of many trees are brown.
- Feces are usually brown.
- A large number of mammals and predatory birds have a brown coloration. This sometimes changes seasonally, and sometimes remains the same year-round. This color is likely related to camouflage, since the backdrop of some environments, such as the forest floor, is often brown, and especially in the spring and summertime when animals like the Snowshoe Hare get brown fur.
- In the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, the German Nazi paramilitary organization the Sturmabteilung (SA) wore brown uniforms and were known as the brownshirts. It was often said of members of the SA that they were like a beefsteak--"brown on the outside, and red on the inside"--because many of them were former Communists. The color brown was used to represent the Nazi vote on maps of electoral districts in Germany. If someone voted for the Nazis, they were said to be "voting brown". The national headquarters of the Nazi party, in Munich, was called the Brown House. The Nazi seizure of power in 1933 was called the Brown Revolution. At Adolf Hitler's Obersalzberg home, the Berghof, he slept in a "bed which was usually covered by a brown quilt embroidered with a huge swastika. The swastika also appeared on Hitler's brown satin pajamas, embroidered in black against a red background on the pocket. He had a matching brown silk robe."
- In the bandana code of the gay leather subculture, wearing a brown bandana means that one is into the fetish of coprophilia.
- Brown is sometimes used as a team color or name, as in the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League, which got its name from its founder and long-time coach, Paul Brown, but also uses brown as a team color. The St. Louis Browns are a former Major League Baseball team, now known as the Baltimore Orioles; they do not use brown as a team color. For about 25 years, the San Diego Padres had brown as a primary team color.
References
See also
External links
brown in Erzya: Тюжа
brown in Afrikaans: Bruin
brown in Asturian: Marrón
brown in Aymara: P'aqu
brown in Bulgarian: Кафяв цвят
brown in Catalan: Marró
brown in Czech: Hnědá
brown in Danish: Brun
brown in Pennsylvania German: Brau
brown in German: Braun
brown in Spanish: Marrón
brown in Esperanto: Bruna
brown in Basque: Marroi
brown in Persian: قهوهای
brown in French: Brun
brown in Galician: Marrón
brown in Korean: 갈색
brown in Italian: Marrone
brown in Hebrew: חום (צבע)
brown in Latin: Aquilus
brown in Lithuanian: Ruda
brown in Dutch: Bruin
brown in Japanese: 茶色
brown in Chechen: Боьмаша
brown in Norwegian: Brun
brown in Norwegian Nynorsk: Brun
brown in Polish: Barwa brązowa
brown in Portuguese: Marrom
brown in Quechua: P'aqu
brown in Russian: Коричневый цвет
brown in Simple English: Brown
brown in Finnish: Ruskea
brown in Swedish: Brun
brown in Tagalog: Kayumanggi
brown in Vietnamese: Nâu
brown in Turkish: Kahverengi
brown in Ukrainian: Коричневий колір
brown in Contenese: 啡色
brown in Chinese: 褐色
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Argos brown, Bordeaux, Cologne brown,
Mexican red, Roman umber, Saint Benoit, Turkey umber, acorn, alesan, alizarin brown,
anthracene brown, anthragallol, antique
brown, antique gold, autumn leaf, bake, barbecue, baste, becloud, bedarken, bedim, begloom, beige, biscuit, bister, black, black out, blacken, blanch, block the light, blot
out, boil, bone brown,
bracken, braise, brew, broil, bronze, brown race, browning, brownish, brownish-yellow,
brownness, brunet, bunny brown, burn, burnt almond, cafe noir, cast
a shadow, chocolate,
cinnamon, cloud, cloud over, cocoa, cocoa-brown, coconut, coddle, coffee, coffee-brown, cook, curry, darken, darken over, dead leaf,
devil, dim, dim out, do, do to perfection, doeskin, drab, dun, dun-brown, dun-drab, eclipse, ecru, embrown, encloud, encompass with shadow,
fawn, fawn-colored,
fire, foliage brown,
fox, fricassee, frizz, frizzle, fry, fuscous, gloom, grege, griddle, grill, hazel, heat, infuscate, infuscation, khaki, leather, lurid, maple sugar, mummy, murk, negro, nut-brown, obfuscate, obnubilate, obscure, obumbrate, occult, occultate, olive brown,
olive-brown, olive-drab, oriole, otter brown, oven-bake,
overcast, overcloud, overshadow, pan, pan-broil, parboil, partridge, philamot, poach, prepare, prepare food, raw
sienna, raw umber, resorcin dark brown, roast, rust, saute, scallop, seal, seal-brown, sear, sepia, shade, shadow, shirr, simmer, snuff-colored, somber, sorrel, steam, stew, stir-fry, sunburn, suntan, tan, taupe, tawny, tenne, terra sienna, terra umbra,
toast, toast-brown,
topaz, umber, umber-colored, walnut, walnut-brown,
yellowish-brown