Library / English Dictionary

BROWN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A university in Rhode Island

Synonyms:

Brown; Brown University

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Instance hypernyms:

university (establishment where a seat of higher learning is housed, including administrative and living quarters as well as facilities for research and teaching)

Holonyms ("Brown" is a part of...):

Little Rhody; Ocean State; R.I.; Rhode Island; RI (a state in New England; one of the original 13 colonies; the smallest state)

Holonyms ("Brown" is a member of...):

Ivy League (a league of universities and colleges in the northeastern United States that have a reputation for scholastic achievement and social prestige)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An orange of low brightness and saturation

Synonyms:

brown; brownness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("brown" is a kind of...):

chromatic color; chromatic colour; spectral color; spectral colour (a color that has hue)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "brown"):

Vandyke brown (a moderate brown color)

chestnut (the brown color of chestnuts)

burnt umber; chocolate; coffee; deep brown; umber (a medium brown to dark-brown color)

hazel (a shade of brown that is yellowish or reddish; it is a greenish shade of brown when used to describe the color of someone's eyes)

light brown (a brown that is light but unsaturated)

mocha (a dark brown color)

burnt sienna; mahogany; reddish brown; sepia; Venetian red (a shade of brown with a tinge of red)

buff; caramel; caramel brown; raw sienna; yellowish brown (a medium to dark tan color)

puce (a color varying from dark purplish brown to dark red)

olive brown (a shade of brown tinged with green)

taupe (a greyish brown)

Derivation:

brown (fry in a pan until it changes color)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Abolitionist who was hanged after leading an unsuccessful raid at Harper's Ferry, Virginia (1800-1859)

Synonyms:

Brown; John Brown

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

abolitionist; emancipationist (a reformer who favors abolishing slavery)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Scottish botanist who first observed the movement of small particles in fluids now known a Brownian motion (1773-1858)

Synonyms:

Brown; Robert Brown

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Instance hypernyms:

botanist; phytologist; plant scientist (a biologist specializing in the study of plants)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

(of skin) deeply suntanned

Synonyms:

brown; browned

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

brunet; brunette (marked by dark or relatively dark pigmentation of hair or skin or eyes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of a color similar to that of wood or earth

Synonyms:

brown; brownish; chocolate-brown; dark-brown

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

chromatic (being or having or characterized by hue)

Derivation:

brownness (an orange of low brightness and saturation)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make brown in color

Example:

the draught browned the leaves on the trees in the yard

Synonyms:

brown; embrown

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "brown" is one way to...):

color; color in; colorise; colorize; colour; colour in; colourise; colourize (add color to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fry in a pan until it changes color

Example:

brown the meat in the pan

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "brown" is one way to...):

cook (transform and make suitable for consumption by heating)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The chefs brown the vegetables

Derivation:

brown (an orange of low brightness and saturation)

Credits

 Context examples: 

It is characterized by itchy, burning papular lesions which form open sores with red-brown crusts.

(Pityriasis Lichenoides et Varioliformis Acuta, NCI Thesaurus)

A benign, small and slightly elevated brown or black skin lesion with usually well-demarcated borders.

(Pigmented Spindle Cell Nevus, NCI Thesaurus)

Papules may be red, purple, brown, or pink.

(Papule, NCI Dictionary)

PGC-1a is highly expressed in metabolically active tissues including brown fat, skeletal muscle and heart.

(PGC1a Regulation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

If so, it is one of the least massive brown dwarfs known.

(A cold, close neighbor of the Sun, NASA)

Skin lesions are often irregular and may be pink, red, or have light brown, tan, or gray at the edges.

(Amelanotic melanoma, NCI Dictionary)

Its color is usually uneven and can range from pink to dark brown.

(Atypical mole, NCI Dictionary)

The adult coats come in any of the four colors, black, brown, blue, or fawn.

(Bearded Collie, NCI Thesaurus)

This foraging partnership was recorded in print as early as 1588, when a Portuguese missionary in what is now Mozambique observed a small brown bird slipping into his church to nibble his wax candles.

(How humans and wild Honeyguide birds call each other to help, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The researchers tested the material using two of the most troubling forms of antibiotic-resistant bacteria: MRSA and Pseudomonas, with the collaboration of Eric Brown of McMaster's Institute for Infectious Disease Research.

(Scientists Create Superbug-Resistant Self-Cleaning Surface, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)