brown / broun/ • adj. of a color produced by mixing red, yellow, and black, as of dark wood or rich soil: an old brown coat. ∎  dark-skinned or suntanned: his face was brown from the sun. ∎  (of bread) made from a dark, unsifted, or unbleached flour.• n. brown color or pigment: the brown of his eyes. the print is rich with velvety browns. • v. make or become brown, typically by cooking: [tr.] a skillet in which food has been browned [intr.] bake the pizza until the cheese has browned. PHRASES: (as) brown as a berry (of a person) very suntanned.DERIVATIVES: brown·ish adj.brown·ness n.

brown OE. brūn = OS., OHG. brūn (Du. bruin, G. braun), ON. brūn :- Gmc. *brūnaz. Reinforced in ME. from (O)F. brun — Gmc. OE. brūn, ME. broun, ON. brúnn, OHG. brūn were applied to burnished or glistening surfaces; see BURNISH.

brown brown study a state of mental abstraction or musing, an idle reverie.