brown

en-noun

brown (countable and uncountable, plural browns)

Bislama: braon

Tok Pisin: braun

→ Welsh: brown

→ Tongan: palauni

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
* Ancient Greek φρύνη (phrúnē), φρῦνος (phrûnos, “toad”)
* Latin brunneus (“brown”)
* Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)
* Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú, “reddish-brown”)
* West Frisian brún

cog

(informal) A brown trout (Salmo trutta).


acajou

en-noun

acajou (countable and uncountable, plural acajous)

/ˈæ.kəˌd͡ʒu/

Borrowed from French acajou (“cashew”), from Old Tupi akaîu. Doublet of cashew.

A moderate reddish brown that is slightly yellower and stronger than mahogany.


henna

henna (countable and uncountable, plural hennas)

→ Greek: χένα (chéna)

Borrowed from Arabic حِنَّاء (ḥinnāʔ), the name of the tree used to make the dye, probably from Middle Persian [script needed] (*hannāy-, “to smear, anoint”).

der

Lawsonia inermis
Lawsonia inermis#Translingual

(countable) A shrub, Lawsonia inermis, having fragrant reddish flowers

(countable, uncountable) A reddish plant substance, prepared from the dried leaves of this plant, used for temporary tattoos and hair coloring. Hair colorings range from bright red to earth brown to near black.


henna

en-verb

henna (third-person singular simple present hennas, present participle hennaing, simple past and past participle hennaed)

hennas (present singular third-person)
hennaing (participle present)
hennaed (participle past)
hennaed (past)

(transitive) To dye or tattoo with henna.


beige

en-noun

beige (countable and uncountable, plural beiges)

Unadapted borrowing from French (dialectal) beige, from Old French bege (“color of undyed wool or cotton”), from an Alpine language (compare Franco-Provençal bézho, Romansch besch (“dull grey”)), from Vulgar Latin *bysseus (“cottony grey”) (compare French bis, Catalan bis, Italian bigio), from Late Latin byssus (“cotton”), from Ancient Greek βύσσος (bússos, “cotton homespun”), from Semitic (compare Hebrew/Aramaic בוץ (būṣ)). Doublet of bice.

der

Debeige; a kind of woollen or mixed dress goods.


beige

en-adj

beige (comparative beiger or more beige, superlative beigest or most beige)

beiger (comparative)
more beige (comparative)
beigest (superlative)
most beige (superlative)

Dagobert had only one customer, an American who wore square, rimless glasses and a beige suit and looked like a Wall Street tycoon.

1956, Delano Ames, chapter 24, in Crime out of Mind:

Mr. Lauwaert of Sony said he realized that most consumers were not going to buy computers that cost far more than discount beige boxes.

2006 November 23, Michel Marriott, “When Beige Won’t Do”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:

Having a slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of unbleached wool.

Think about it: he grew up in Iowa, the beigest of states, was doted on, loved generously by his parents, the top of his class, probably voted Most Handsome of 2000.

2007, Prairie L. Markussen, Cover, page 48:

In the beigest parts of suburbia where I grew up, bridge was a game played by groups of parents in recreation rooms furnished with upright pianos and souvenir sombreros.

2010, Gerald J. McCarthy, A Man of Substances:

For a meal of relentlessly beige food, may I suggest the beigest of wines? That would be chardonnay, which will go beautifully with Melissa Clark’s chicken potpie.

2013 March 25, Eric Asimov, “A Beige Wine for a Beige Meal”, in NYT Diner’s Journal Blog:

He has no criminal record. He has no traffic tickets. His social media posts are just like... he's beige.

2016, Penelope Garcia, “The Witness”, in Criminal Minds, season 11, episode 2:

(informal, originally US) Comfortably dull and unadventurous, in a way that suggests middle-class suburbia.


bisque

en-noun

bisque (countable and uncountable, plural bisques)

Borrowed from French bisque, possibly from Biscaye.


bisque

Borrowed from French bisque, of unknown origin; Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française, suggests a comparison with Spanish bisca (“gambling house, gambling den”).

cog

(sports) An extra turn, free point or some other advantage allowed.

A free turn in a handicap croquet match.


chocolate

en-adj

chocolate (comparative more chocolate, superlative most chocolate)

more chocolate (comparative)
most chocolate (superlative)

Etymology tree
Classical Nahuatl chocolatlbor.
Spanish chocolatebor.
English chocolate
Via Spanish chocolate from a Nahuatl word, widely given as chocolātl (with the second element being a reflex of Classical Nahuatl ātl (“water”)), although such a word does not appear in Nahuatl until the mid-18th century according to Karttunen. Dakin and Wichmann propose chicolātl as the original form (saying it survives in several modern Nahuatl dialects) and say the chicol- element refers to a special wooden stick used to prepare chocolate. Another theory is that the prefix came from Yucatec Maya chocol (“hot”).


maroon

From French marron (“feral; fugitive”, adjective), from Spanish cimarrón (“fugitive, wild, feral”); see that entry for more.

der

Further north a Maroon community in the Bahoruco Mountains thrived for eighty-five years, until the French proposed a truce under the terms of which the Maroons would be permitted to form an independent clan.

1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 193:

Joining others who had escaped before them, they formed communities of Maroons in which many traditional African customs and social mores were preserved.

2007, Kevin Filan, The Haitian Vodou Handbook, Destiny Books, page 14:

An escaped black slave of the Caribbean and the Americas or a descendant of such a person.

A castaway; a person who has been marooned.


maroon

In her discussion of Michelle Cliff's Abeng, a novel that historicizes maroon culture and the Jamaican warrior heroine Nanny of the Maroons, Francoise Lionnet examines linguistic “metissage” […]

2002, Cynthia James, The Maroon Narrative: Caribbean Literature in English Across Boundaries, Ethnicities, and Centuries, Heinemann Educational Books:

Associated with Maroon culture, communities or peoples.

marron-

associated with Maroon culture, communities or peoples


maroon

en-verb

maroon (third-person singular simple present maroons, present participle marooning, simple past and past participle marooned)

maroons (present singular third-person)
marooning (participle present)
marooned (participle past)
marooned (past)

Hard-hit by the Arctic winter, the Waverley route was completely closed from January 6-9, when an avalanche between Whitrope and Riccarton marooned Class A2 4-6-2 No. 60535 Hornet's Beauty.

1963 April, “Winter on the Waverley”, in Modern Railways, page 281, photo caption:

After the harrowing stories of being marooned at sea and stranded in the frozen wastelands of Alaska and the Poles, one would think that survival on dry land would be easier […]

2010, Brogan Steele, From the Jaws of Death: Extreme True Adventures of Man vs. Nature, St. Martin's Griffin, →ISBN, page 231:

The Trump administration’s argument, that no court could order it to retrieve Abrego Garcia despite his being deported by mistake, has broader implications: It means that the administration could similarly maroon U.S. citizens abroad “by mistake” and abandon them.

2025 April 10, Adam Serwer, “The Confrontation Between Trump and the Supreme Court Has Arrived”, in The Atlantic:

To abandon in a remote, desolate place, as on a desert island.


maroon

From an intentional mispronunciation of the word moron used by the cartoon character Bugs Bunny.

At least, I would not be sleeping that night. Why did I have that espresso? What a maroon!

2011, S. Watts Taylor, Tarnish, iUniverse, published 2011, →ISBN, page 21:


tan

From a Brythonic language; influenced in form by yan (“one”) in the same series.

(dialect, rare) The second cardinal number two, formerly used in Celtic areas, especially Cumbria and parts of Yorkshire, for counting sheep, and stitches in knitting.


tan

An Armenian drink made of yoghurt and water similar to airan and doogh


tan

tan (third-person singular simple present tans, present participle tanning, simple past and past participle tanned)

tans (present singular third-person)
tanning (participle present)
tanned (participle past)
tanned (past)

It may either be a figurative use of the usual verb tan (“to cause to acquire a brownish colour”) or a Jamaican Creole pronunciation of turn, compare bun (“to kill particularly by gunshot”).

Step on the wing, see an opp and I'll whack it
Do it like Super Savage
Who's the yute I Jet-Li-rise that dots and tan him (whoosh)
Rise that dots and tan him

2019 September 29, Moscow17, “All For The Cause”:

(transitive, MLE, slang) To kill by gun, to shoot.


khaki

en-adj

khaki (comparative more khaki, superlative most khaki)

more khaki (comparative)
most khaki (superlative)
carkee (alternative obsolete)
carky (alternative obsolete)
karkey (alternative obsolete)
khakee (alternative obsolete)
kharkee (alternative obsolete)
kharki (alternative obsolete)

cocky (some accents with the father-bother merger)

Borrowed from Hindustani خاکی / ख़ाकी (xākī), from Classical Persian خاکی (xākī, “dusty, earthy, earth-colored”).
Sense 5 was coined in reference to the colour of the uniform of British troops during the Second Boer War; compare rooinek.


bronze

en-noun

bronze (countable and uncountable, plural bronzes)

From French bronze (1511); from Italian bronzo (13th c.), of uncertain origin (q.v.). First use appears c. 1721 in the writings of Matthew Prior (for which, see citation below).

unc

uncertain

(countable) A work of art made of bronze, especially a sculpture.

She wanted to win the tournament, but had to settle for the bronze after being beaten in the semi-finals.


bronze

en-adj

bronze (comparative more bronze, superlative most bronze)

more bronze (comparative)
most bronze (superlative)

unc

uncertain

The house was a big elaborate limestone affair, evidently new. Winter sunshine sparkled on lace-hung casement, on glass marquise, and the burnished bronze foliations of grille and door.

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

That girl was dynamite. Dark hair with killer blue eyes, bronze skin, and an exquisite full-figured body.

(of the skin) Tanned; darkened as a result of exposure to the sun.

ruskettunut

tanned; darkened as a result of exposure to the sun


olive

→ Maori: ōriwa

From Middle English olyve, from Old French olive (“olive, olive tree”), from Latin olīva (“olive”), itself either from Etruscan *𐌄𐌋𐌄𐌉𐌅𐌀 (*eleiva), Pre-Classical Greek *ἐλαίϝα (*elaíwa) (compare Mycenaean Greek 𐀁𐀨𐀷 (e-ra-wa), Ancient Greek ἐλαία (elaía)), or the same source as those two. In any case, ultimately from a Mediterranean Pre-Greek source, possibly Proto-Berber *wlw (“wild olive”). More questionably, maybe from Proto-Indo-European *loiwom (compare Old Church Slavonic лои (loi, “tallow”), Old Armenian եւղ (ewł, “oil”)). Doublet of oliva. Displaced native Old English eleberġe, literally "oil berry."

Olea europaea
Olea europaea#Translingual

A tree of species Olea europaea cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it.

(neuroanatomy) An olivary body, part of the medulla oblongata.

a beef olive

olives of veal

(cooking) A small slice of meat seasoned, rolled up, and cooked.

Any shell of the genus Oliva and allied genera; so called from the shape.


copper

en-noun

copper (countable and uncountable, plural coppers)

Inherited from Middle English coper, from Old English coper, copor (“copper”), from Late Latin cuprum (“copper”), contraction of Latin aes Cyprium (literally “Cyprian brass”), from Ancient Greek Κύπρος (Kúpros, “Cyprus”). Cognate with Dutch koper (“copper”), German Kupfer (“copper”), Icelandic kopar (“copper”).

der

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-copper.wav

I had in my pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and five pistoles in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded to give the coppers.

1799, Benjamin Franklin, edited by John Bigelow, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, published 1868, page 255:

"I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ¶ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve. Then I ran away and sold papers in the streets, and anything else that I could pick up a few coppers by—except steal.[…]."

1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter II, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC:

(countable, dated) Any of various specialized items that are made of copper, where the use of copper is either traditional or vital to the function of the item.

(countable) A copper coin, typically of a small denomination, such as a penny.

Mum would heat the water in a copper in the kitchen and transfer it to the tin bath.

I explain that socks can’t be boiled up in the copper with the sheets and towels or they shrink.

When the water in the copper boils, the arsenic and tartar, well pounded, is put into it, and kept boiling till the liquor is reduced to about half.

1797, “Dyeing”, in Colin Macfarquhar, George Gleig, editors, Encyclopædia Britannica: or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, Volume 6, Part 1 p.207:

'You had better mind you don't get up too early, and you mustn't put any fire under the copper before two o'clock.'

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 6:

He rose to his knees, for he had been sitting in the darkness near the copper.

1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 230:

'Vot game now she play?' he asked himself, as he distinguished his wife near one of the pig-scalding coppers.

1907, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Human Toll (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 254:

The wet laundry's stove had a long vent in the ceiling which helped to release the steam from the coppers in which the clothes and bed linen were boiled.

2000, Christopher Christie, The British Country House in the Eighteenth Century, page 266:

(UK, Australia, dated) A large pot, often used for heating water or washing clothes over a fire. In Australasia at least, it could also be a fixed installation made of copper, with a fire underneath and its own chimney. Generally made redundant by the advent of the washing machine.

Coppers are generally good for a year, if the battery is carefully attended […]

1885, General Rules and Regulations Applicable to All Employes of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway Company:

Some coppers come already tinned. I didn't buy mine, so they surely were not tinned.

1890, The Manufacturer and Builder, volume 22, page 83:

Coppers are not consumed, and their life depends largely on the manner in which they are used.

1907, “Instructions for the Care of Callaud Batteries”, in Journal of the Telegraph, volume XL:


copper

en-adj

copper (comparative more copper, superlative most copper)

more copper (comparative)
most copper (superlative)


copper

From cop (“to take, capture, seize”) + -er (agent noun suffix).

af

One evening as I was lying down in Leicester Square / I was picked up by the coppers and kicked in the balls

1985, Shane MacGowan, “The Old Main Drag”, in Rum Sodomy & the Lash, performed by The Pogues:

(slang, law enforcement) A police officer.


ochre

en-noun

ochre (countable and uncountable, plural ochres)

From an unknown West African language, probably Igbo ọ́kụ̀rụ̀, but compare Akan ŋkrũmã and ŋkrakra (“broth”).

der

Igbo ọ́kụ̀rụ̀


russet

en-noun

russet (countable and uncountable, plural russets)

From Middle English russet, from Anglo-Norman russet, rossat, roset, and Middle French rosset, rousset (“reddish, reddish-brown; a rough wool cloth”), from Middle French rous, rus (“to rouse”) + -et (diminutive suffix); compare Late Latin rossetum, russetum, russeta (“rough wool cloth”), Latin russus (“red”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”)), Occitan rosseta (“rough wool cloth”).

Of the various kinds of woollens, the cheapest appear to be those which are known by the names of ‘bluett,’ ‘russet,’ and ‘blanket.’ […] The second appears to have been almost uniformly an inferior article; but the third is the cheapest of all. The first two terms point to the colour of the stuff, blanket being undyed stuff. It seems that sometimes russet is understood to be cloth made from black wool.

1866, James E[dwin] Thorold Rogers, “On the Price of Textile Fabrics and Clothing”, in A History of Agriculture and Prices in England: From the Year after the Oxford Parliament (1259) to the Commencement of the Continental War (1793): Compiled Entirely from Original and Contemporaneous Records, volumes I (1259–1400), Oxford: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 575:

A coarse, reddish-brown, homespun fabric; clothes made with such fabric.

vadmal

historical in this tense: red-brown, coarse fabric


russet

en-adj

russet (comparative more russet, superlative most russet)

more russet (comparative)
most russet (superlative)

But looke, the Morne in Ruſſet Mantle clad, / Walkes o're the dew of yon high Eaſterne Hill, […]

c. 1599–1601, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, act I, scene i, page 153, column 2:

Oh, long may thoſe, bleſt Cherry-Tree, / Whoſe generous hearts incircle thee, / A deſtiny ſo partial ſhare, / As actual bliſs and fancied care! / And long as theſe fair woodbines twine / Around this ruſſet coat of thine, / May I to all thy friends be join'd / In fondeſt union of the mind: […]

1786 November, [Samuel Jackson] Pratt, “The Cherry-Tree”, in The Scots Magazine, volume XLVIII, Edinburgh: Printed by Murray and Cochrane, →OCLC, page 556, column 2:

Arnak shook his heavy russet head, bemused.

2015, Alison Gardiner, chapter 15, in The Serpent of Eridor, Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire: Matador, →ISBN, page 104:

[…] I received some bales of leather, that when I sent them to the Currier's to wax them, they having been at the Currier's before, as they came up in the russet state, when I had sent them back to be waxed, he sent me back word they were so badly tanned, and so burnt in the tanning, he could not recommend them, […]

1813 June, “Duty on Leather: Report from the Select Committee on the Petitions Relating to the Duty on Leather”, in The Literary Panorama, being a Compendium of National Papers and Parliamentary Reports, Illustrative of the History, Statistics, and Commerce of the Empire; a Universal Epitome of Interesting and Amusing Intelligence from All Quarters of the Globe; a Review of Books, and Magazine of Varieties, Forming a Complete Annual Register, volume XIII, London: Printed by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street, for C. Taylor, No. 108, Hatton Garden, Holborn, page 720:

Usually the London leather trade exhibits little animation during the latter part of June, but this year a fair general business was transacted at Leadenhall. […] [I]n curried leather, russet butts and middlings, kip butts of bright manufacture, calf skins, light grain, prime Cordovan, and harness appear in considerable request.

1871 July 22, “Commercial Epitome”, in The Economist, Weekly Commercial Times, Bankers’ Gazette, and Railway Monitor: A Political, Literary, and General Newspaper, volume XXIX, number 1,456, [London]: [Economist Office], →OCLC, page 885, column 1:

The condition of leather when its treatment is complete, but it is not yet colored (stained) and polished.

Many apple varieties are mottled or russet, with a rough, dull skin hiding crisp, flavorful flesh.

2015, Jennifer A. Jordan, “Remembering Applies”, in Edible Memory: The Lure of Heirloom Tomatoes & Other Forgotten Foods, Chicago, Ill., London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 98:

(botany) Having a rough skin that is reddish-brown or greyish; russeted.


russet

en-verb

russet (third-person singular simple present russets, present participle russeting or russetting, simple past and past participle russeted or russetted)

russets (present singular third-person)
russeting (participle present)
russetting (participle present)
russeted (participle past)
russeted (past)
russetted (participle past)
russetted (past)

Pear psylla causes damage when nymphs, feeding at high densities on leaves, produce enough honeydew to drip onto the fruit. A black, sooty mold fungus then grows into the honeydew, distorting and russeting the fruit surface, which substantially lowers its commercial value, […]

1995, T. R. Unruh, P. H. Westigard, K. S. Hagen, “Pear Psylla”, in J. R. Nechols et al., editors, Biological Control in the Western United States: Accomplishments and Benefits of Regional Research Project W-84, 1964–1989 (University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication; 3361), Oakland, Calif.: Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of California, →ISBN, page 95:

Cultivars differ greatly in their propensity to russet: the characteristic is heritable but more than one factor seems to be involved[…].

2003, John E. Jackson, “Flowers and Fruits”, in The Biology of Apples and Pears (Biology of Horticultural Crops), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 323:

I surprised my own amazement in the looking glass / where the resinous radiance of a chandelier / russeted the chaise longue and the chiffonier. / Autumn lay over everything I loved.

2007, Eric [Linn] Ormsby, “Time’s Covenant”, in Time’s Covenant: Selected Poems, Emeryville, Ont.: Biblioasis, →ISBN, prologue, stanza 3, page 256:

(ambitransitive, of apples, pears, etc.) To develop reddish-brown spots; to cause russeting.


sienna

en-noun

sienna (countable and uncountable, plural siennas)

From Italian terra di Siena (“earth of Siena”), Siena being the most notable Renaissance location of the clay.

uder

(countable) A form of clay containing iron and manganese.

(countable and uncountable) A pigment with a reddish-brown colour.


taupe

en-noun

taupe (countable and uncountable, plural taupes)

Borrowed from French taupe, from Latin talpa (“mole”). Doublet of talpa.

A dark brownish-grey colour, the colour of moleskin.

тъмносив

като къртица


sepia

sepia (countable and uncountable, plural sepias)

Borrowed from Latin sēpia (“cuttlefish”), from Ancient Greek σηπία (sēpía). Cognate with Italian seppia, Portuguese siba, and Spanish sepia.

bor+

Sepia had some use in ancient times as a writing ink, and in modern times has has occasionally been used as a pigment, but it never attained any popularity, as it is extremely fugitive.

1930, A[loys] Merz, M[orris] Rea Paul, “Sepia”, in “Notes on Color Names”, in A Dictionary of Color, New York City: McGraw-Hill, page 179:

(uncountable) A dark brown pigment made from the secretions of the cuttlefish.


cinnamon

en-noun

cinnamon (countable and uncountable, plural cinnamons)

→ Japanese: シナモン (shinamon)

→ Korean: 시나몬 (sinamon)

→ Maori: hinamona

→ Welsh: sinamon

From Middle English synamome, from Old French cinnamone, from Latin cinnamon, cinnamomum, from Ancient Greek κιννάμωμον (kinnámōmon), later κίνναμον (kínnamon), according to Herodotus from Phoenician [Term?], cognate with Hebrew קִנָּמוֹן (qinnāmōn).

tó wónaanídę́ę́ʼ tsin bikáshtʼóózh bitáʼahí bił éʼélʼíní

Cinnamomum verum
Cinnamomum verum#Translingual

Cinnamomum zeylanicum
Cinnamomum zeylanicum

(countable) A small evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka and southern India, Cinnamomum verum or Cinnamomum zeylanicum, belonging to the family Lauraceae.

Cinnamomum cassia
Cinnamomum cassia#Translingual

Several related trees, notably the Indonesian cinnamon (Cinnamomum burmanni) and Chinese cinnamon or cassia (Cinnamomum aromaticum or Cinnamomum cassia).

canyeller

any of related trees in the genus Cinnamomum

(chiefly uncountable) A spice from the dried aromatic bark of the cinnamon tree, either rolled into strips or ground into a powder. The word is commonly used as trade name for spices made of any of the species above.

true cinnamon, the product made of Cinnamomum verum


cinnamon

Containing cinnamon, or having a cinnamon taste.


auburn

auburn (countable and uncountable, plural auburns)

Early Modern English auburn (“brown, reddish brown”) from Middle English aubourne, abron, abroune, abrune (“light brown, yellowish brown, blond”), alteration (due to conflation with Middle English brun (“brown”)) of earlier auborne (“yellowish-white, flaxen”) from Old French auborne, alborne (“blond, flaxen, off-white”) from Medieval Latin alburnus (“whitish”), from Latin albus (“white”). More at albino, brown.

A dark reddish-brown colour, often used to describe hair colour.


hazel

hazel (usually uncountable, plural hazels)

hazels (plural)
hazle (alternative archaic)

From Middle English hasel, from Old English hæsl (“hazel, shrub”), from Proto-West Germanic *hasl, from Proto-Germanic *haslaz (“hazel”), from Proto-Indo-European *kóslos (“hazel”). Cognate with Dutch hazelaar (“hazel”), German Hasel (“hazel”), Swedish hassel (“hazel”), Latin corulus, corylus (“hazel-tree, hazelwood”), Irish coll (“hazel”).

Rossiter W[orthington] Raymond
w:Rossiter W. Raymond


chestnut

chestnut (countable and uncountable, plural chestnuts)

→ Gujarati: ચેસ્ટનટ (cesṭanaṭ)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-chestnut.wav

Formerly chesten nut, from Middle English chesten, Middle English chesteyne, chasteine, from Old English ċisten and reinforced by Old French chastaigne, both from Latin castānea, from Ancient Greek καστάνεια (kastáneia). Latin castānea also is the ultimate source of English castanet.

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

(uncountable) A dark, reddish-brown colour, as seen on the fruit of the chestnut tree.

Lord Carington […] led the way with his chestnuts […]

1871, Baily's Magazine of Sports & Pastimes, volume 20, page 308:

[…] browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, and chestnuts are the most foolish.

1877, George Nevile, Horses and Riding, page 105:

Yep, this is a dance-leaning cover of the Matthew Wilder '80s pop chestnut. It has already saturated radio airwaves throughout Europe, with a number of programmers here already giving it positive feedback.

1997 May 10, Larry Flick, “Singles”, in Billboard, →ISSN, page 62:

Take greed. He’s been cited many times for what now has become a chestnut: “The point is, you can’t be too greedy.”

2015 August 27, Michael Signer, “What Happens When Donald Trump Stirs Up 'Passionate' Supporters”, in The Atlantic:

(figurative) An old joke; a worn-out meme, phrase, ploy, etc. so often repeated as to have grown tiresome or ineffective (often in the phrase "old chestnut").

A round or oval horny plate found on the inner side of the leg of a horse or other animal, similar to a birthmark on a human.


buff

buff (countable and uncountable, plural buffs)

From buffe (“leather”), from Middle French buffle (“buffalo”).

A diuell in an euerlaſting garment hath him ; / On whoſe hard heart is button’d vp with ſteele : / A Feind, a Fairie, pittileſſe and ruffe : / A Wolfe, nay worſe, a fellow all in buffe […]

c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 94:

He’s a real history buff. He knows everything there is to know about the civil war.

(informal) A person who is very interested in a particular subject.

liefhebber

a person who is very interested in a particular subject

2014, “Aldergrove’s 856 gang busted, $400,000 in drugs seized,” CBC News, 30 July, 2014,
Police say this 20 ton hydraulic jack was used to press mixtures of cocaine and “buff” into brick.

Any substance used to dilute (street) drugs in order to increase profits.


chamois

chamois (countable and uncountable, plural chamoises or chamois or chamoix)

chamoises (plural)
chamois (plural)
chamoix (plural)
chamoix (alternative)
shamois (alternative)
shamoy (alternative)

Borrowed from Middle French chamois, from Late Latin camox, from Gaulish camox (5th c. AD, Polemius Silvius), probably from an extinct Alpine language (Raetic, Ancient Ligurian), possibly Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“without horns”). Compare also Old High German gamiza (“chamois”) (whence modern German Gämse).

der

When my father returned from Milan, he found playing with me in the hall of our villa a child fairer than pictured cherub – a creature who seemed to shed radiance from her looks and whose form and motions were lighter than the chamois of the hills.

1831 October 31, Mary W[ollstonecraft] Shelley, chapter I, in Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus (Standard Novels; IX), 3rd edition, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 22:

Rupicapra rupicapra
Rupicapra rupicapra#Translingual

A short-horned goat antelope native to mountainous terrain in southern Europe; Rupicapra rupicapra.

[H]e seldom donned his armour, substituted costly damask and silk for his war-worn shamoy doublet, and affected at his advanced time of life more gaiety of attire than his contemporaries remembered as distinguishing his early youth.

1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], chapter XVI, in Tales of the Crusaders. […], volume I (The Betrothed), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 317:

Ellipsis of chamois leather (“soft pliable leather originally made from the skin of chamois (nowadays the hides of deer, sheep, and other species of goat are alternatively used)”).

chamois leather

I took them, breathed on them, polished them with a chamois and hung them on the chandelier.

1926, Louise de Koven Bowen, Growing Up with a City, University of Illinois Press, →ISBN, page 39:

Mirrors can be cleaned with warm water and ammonia or vinegar and polished with a chamois.

Once your paint has been restored, drying your car with a chamois is just about all you have to do to restore the luster.

An absorbent cloth used for cleaning and polishing, formerly made of chamois leather.

(cycling) A padded insert which protects the groin from the bicycle saddle.


chamois

en-verb

chamois (third-person singular simple present chamoises, present participle chamoising, simple past and past participle chamoised)

chamoises (present singular third-person)
chamoising (participle present)
chamoised (participle past)
chamoised (past)

(transitive) To clean with a chamois leather cloth.


flaxen

From Middle English flaxen, flexon, flexin, from Old English fleaxen (“of flax; flaxen”), equivalent to flax + -en (“made of”). Compare Dutch vlassen.

The couple and their children have flaxen hair.

(of hair) A pale yellow brown as of dried flax; blonde.


camel

→ Coeur d'Alene: keemel

→ Eastern Arrernte: kamule

→ Tsonga: kamela

From Middle English camel, through Old English camel and Old Northern French camel (Old French chamel, modern French chameau), from Latin camēlus, from Ancient Greek κάμηλος (kámēlos), from a Semitic source, ultimately from Proto-Semitic *gamal-; compare Arabic جَمَل (jamal), Hebrew גמל (gamál), Aramaic ܓܡܠܐ (gamlā), Coptic ϭⲁⲙⲟⲩⲗ (camoul). As a marine device, from Dutch. As an ethnic slur, short for camelfucker, camel jockey, etc.

a camel is a horse designed by a committee

it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

Returne our Mules and emptie Camels backe,
That we may trauell into Siria, […]

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

Achilles! a drayman, a porter, a very camel.

c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:

As sometimes happens in countries of small civilisation, a leader arose from among the Arabs. None knew from where he sprang, and it was said that he had been a camel driver.

1907, W. Somerset Maugham, chapter IV, in The Explorer:

oont

India (Anglo-Indian), Australia, colloquial

A beast of burden, much used in desert areas, of the genus Camelus.

A light brownish color, like that of a camel (also called camel brown).

Nantucket Island is probably the only place in the United States where camels were put to work to solve the problem created by a sandbar. They were Marine camels, and like their live namesake, they were of a rugged construction and were designed to do very heavy work. In the shape of two large wooden boxes, the camels were flooded with sea water until they sank to a low level in the water; they were then arranged on each side of a heavily-loaded ship and drawn tightly together around the ship by means of heavy chains passing under the ship's hull. As the sea water was pumped out of the camels, they rose up to a higher level, raising the ship between them, and when fully emptied the camels and the ship were towed across the bar easily and safely because of the lesser draft. First used in Holland as early as 1688, the camels were invented by one M. M. Bakker, who named them for their great strength. The Dutch used them to carry large ships over the Pampas, which was a passage between two sandbanks in the Zyder Zee, opposite the mouth of the River Y, and about six miles from the city of Amsterdam. The Russians adopted the idea and used camels for carrying ships over the shoals at Neva...

1961 April, H. Flint Ranney, "Whaling and Nantucket–The Decline: The Civil War, Petition to Congress, and the Camels", Historic Nantucket, Vol. 8, No. 4, p. 59

(typically in the plural) A vessel or tank, typically paired, used to make an object more buoyant.

(chess) A fairy chess piece that is moved three squares in one direction and one at right angles to that direction in a single move, leaping over any intervening pieces.


camel

→ Spanish: cámel

[…] try to select accessories that are in the same color family as your coat," says millinery designer Patricia Underwood. To pick up the weave of a brown tweed jacket, for instance, choose a camel hat and black gloves.

Of a light brown color like that of a camel.


beaver

en-noun

beaver (countable and uncountable, plural beavers or (senses 1 and 4) beaver)

beavers (plural)
beaver (plural)
Beaver (alternative)

From Middle English bever, from Old English befer, from Proto-West Germanic *bebru, from Proto-Germanic *bebruz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰébʰrus (“beaver”).
Cognate with West Frisian bever, Dutch bever, French bièvre, German Biber, dialectal Swedish bjur. Non-Germanic cognates include Welsh befer, Latin fiber, Lithuanian bẽbras, Russian бобр (bobr), Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬭𐬀 (bauura), and Sanskrit बभ्रु (bábhru, “mongoose; ichneumon”).
Slang use to refer to a woman evolved from use to refer to pubic hair, which evolved from use to refer to beards, which evolved from use to refer to the furry animal or its fur.

cog

(countable, backgammon) A move in response to being doubled, in which one immediately doubles the stakes again, keeping the doubling cube on one’s own side of the board.

en:member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement

Alternative letter-case form of Beaver (“member of the youngest wing of the Scout movement”).


beaver

Butter – Beaver.

[1754, The Scoundrel’s Dictionary, London, page 15:


brass

en-noun

brass (usually uncountable, plural brasses)

From Middle English bras, bres, from Old English bræs (“brass, bronze”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps representing a backformation from Proto-Germanic *brasnaz (“brazen”), from or related to *brasō (“fire, pyre”). Compare Old Norse and Icelandic bras (“solder”), Icelandic brasa (“to harden in the fire”), Swedish brasa (“a small controlled fire”), Danish brase (“to fry”); French braser ("to solder"; > English braise) from the same Germanic root. Compare also Middle Dutch braspenninc ("a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch braspenning), Old Frisian bress (“copper”), Middle Low German bras (“metal, ore”).
In the military sense an ellipsis of the brass hats.

unc

uncertain

gloss

"to solder"; > English <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">braise</i>

"a silver coin", literally, "silver-penny"; > Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">braspenning</i>

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey

en:fittings, utensils, or other items made of the metal brass

(countable, uncountable) A metallic alloy of copper and zinc used in many industrial and plumbing applications.

Fittings, utensils, or other items made of brass.

A few measures later, the brass comes in strong!

(music) A class of wind instruments, usually made of metal (such as brass), that use vibrations of the player's lips to produce sound; a band or the section of an orchestra that features such instruments.

духов

related to brass instruments (attributive use)


brass

en-adj

brass (comparative more brass, superlative most brass)

more brass (comparative)
most brass (superlative)

unc

uncertain

Made of brass, of or pertaining to brass.

messinkinen

made of brass, of or pertaining to brass


liver

From Middle English lyvere, lyver, from Old English lifer (“liver”), from Proto-West Germanic *libru, from Proto-Germanic *librō, from Proto-Indo-European *leyp- (“to smear, smudge, stick”), from Proto-Indo-European *ley- (“to be slimy, be sticky, glide”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Líeuwer, Lieuwer (“liver”), West Frisian lever (“liver”), Dutch lever (“liver”), German Leber (“liver”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish lever (“liver”) (the last three from Old Norse lifr (“liver”)). Related to live.

der

His friend Rothwell, who had the use of the best Laveracks for breeding purposes, wrote him that one of his puppies was liver and white.

2006, Rawdon Briggs Lee, A History and Description of the Modern Dogs of Great Britain & Ireland, →ISBN, page 298:

Of the colour of liver (dark brown, tinted with red and gray).


sand

en-noun

sand (usually uncountable, plural sands)

From Middle English sond, sand, from Old English sand, from Proto-West Germanic *samd, from Proto-Germanic *samdaz, from Proto-Indo-European *sámh₂dʰos, from *sem- (“to pour”).
See also West Frisian sân, Dutch zand, German Sand, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian sand, Latin sabulum, Ancient Greek ἄμαθος (ámathos), English dialectal samel (“sand bottom”), Old Irish do·essim (“to pour out”), Latin sentina (“bilge water”), Lithuanian sémti (“to scoop”), Ancient Greek ἀμάω (amáō, “to gather”), ἄμη (ámē, “water bucket”).

enough sense to pound sand into a rathole

One sand was that used in cement testing with white well rounded smooth grains, passing through a 20-mesh sieve and retained on a 30-mesh sieve. The other was ordinary brown building sand, passing 40-mesh and retained on 60-mesh.

1922, Harvey Whipple, Concrete, volumes 20-21, page 96:

(uncountable) Rock that is ground more finely than gravel, but is not as fine as silt (more formally, see grain sizes chart), forming beaches and deserts and also used in construction.

(countable) A specific grade, type, or composition of sand.

The Canadian tar sands are a promising source of oil.

From east and south the danger was to be expected. Not from the uninhabited northern desert, not from the desolate sands of the unknown west, would it come.

1892, James Yoxall, chapter 14, in The Lonely Pyramid:

(countable, often in the plural) A beach or other mass of sand.

For a spell we done pretty well. Then there came a reg'lar terror of a sou'wester same as you don't get one summer in a thousand, and blowed the shanty flat and ripped about half of the weir poles out of the sand.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

“We are addicted to sand but don’t know it because we don’t buy it as individuals,” says Aurora Torres, […]

2018, Neil Tweedie, “Is the world running out of sand? The truth behind stolen beaches and dredged islands”, in The Guardian:

China’s hunger for sand is insatiable, its biggest dredging site at Lake Poyang produces 989,000 tonnes per day.

You may say what you want to, but in my opinion she had more sand in her than any girl I ever see; in my opinion she was just full of sand.

1884, Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:

He said, “I admire your sand but I believe you will find I am not liable for such claims. Let me say too that your valuation of the horse is high by about two hundred dollars.”

There was youngsters all around him, and he stood there lookin’ at me and never turned a hair. He had sand, that Morrell.

1979, Louis L'Amour, Bendigo Shafter, →ISBN, →OL:

(uncountable, geology) A particle from 62.5 microns to 2 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.

The sands are numbered that make up my life.

c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]:

Cf. sands of time (idiom)

[…] And, departing, leave behind us / Footprints on the sands of time […]

1838 October, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life. […]”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1839, →OCLC, stanza 7, page 7:

(countable, figurative) A moment or interval of time; the term or extent of one's life (referring to the sand in an hourglass).


sand

(colloquial, birdwatching) Ellipsis of sandpiper.


coffee

coffee (countable and uncountable, plural coffees)

coffee [from 1598] (canonical)
coffees (plural)
coffée (alternative rare)

Tok Pisin: kopi

desc

→ Mon: ကဝ်ဖှဳ

→ Mon: ကဝ်ဖှဳ

→ Gujarati: કૉફી (kŏphī)

→ Hausa: kṑfī

desctree

→ Hindi: कॉफ़ी (kŏfī), काफ़ी (kāfī), कोफ़ी (kofī), कॉफी (kŏphī), काफी (kāphī), कोफी (kophī)
→ Sanskrit: काफी (kāphī)

→ Korean: 커피 (keopi)

→ Maia: kopi

→ Marathi: काफी (kāphī)

→ Marshallese: ko̧pe

→ Navajo: gohwééh

→ Scottish Gaelic: cofaidh

→ Welsh: coffi

Conservative, Received Pronunciation, dated

Etymology tree
Arabic قَهْوَة (qahwa)bor.
Ottoman Turkish قهوهbor.
Italian caffèbor.
Dutch koffiebor.
English coffee
Borrowed from Dutch koffie, from Italian caffè, from Ottoman Turkish قهوه (kahve), from Arabic قَهْوَة (qahwa). Doublet of café and caffè and cognate with the words for "coffee" in other major European languages, most of which are derived from the Turkish and Italian words.

etymon

that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee

that and a nickel will buy you a cup of coffee

that and twenty-five cents will get you a cup of coffee

The seeds of the plant used to make coffee, called ‘beans’ due to their shape.

A pale brown color, like that of milk coffee.


coffee

Of a pale brown colour, like that of milk coffee.


walnut

en-noun

walnut (countable and uncountable, plural walnuts)

From Middle English walnote, walnutte, walnotte, from Old English wealhhnutu (“walnut”, literally “foreign nut”), from Proto-Germanic *walhaz (“foreigner”) + *hnuts (“nut”). Cognate with Dutch walnoot, German Walnuss, Swedish valnöt, Icelandic valhneta. Compare more recent term Welsh onion, which also uses Welsh to mean “foreign”.

inh

Dark brown colour, the colour of walnut wood.


walnut

Having a dark brown colour, the colour of walnut wood.


almond

en-noun

almond (countable and uncountable, plural almonds)

From Middle English almond, almaund, from Old French almande, amande, from Vulgar Latin *amendla, *amandula, from Latin amygdala, from Ancient Greek ἀμυγδάλη (amugdálē), of uncertain origin. Influenced by amandus and by many European words of Arabic origin beginning with the Arabic definite article Arabic ال (al-). Compare Spanish almóndiga and Portuguese almôndega (“meatball”) from Andalusian Arabic البُنْدُقَة (“hazelnut al-bunduqa”). Doublet of amygdala, amygdale, and mandorla.

doublet

Other plants that produce almond-like nuts:

bitter almond. of variety Prunus amygdalus var. amara, (syn. Prunus dulcis var. amara), that only produces bitter fruits

Prunus andersonii, desert almond, a North American shrub in family Rosaceae

(uncountable) The colour of an almond still covered by its skin, a shade of brown.


rust

en-noun

rust (countable and uncountable, plural rusts)

From Middle English rust, rost, roust, from Old English rust, rūst (“rust”), from Proto-West Germanic *rust, from Proto-Germanic *rustaz (“rust”), from Proto-Indo-European *rudʰso- (“red”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ- (“red”).
Cognate with Scots roust (“rust”), Saterland Frisian rust (“rust”), West Frisian roast (“rust”), Dutch roest (“rust”), German Rost (“rust”), Danish rust (“rust”), Swedish rost (“rust”), Norwegian rust, ryst (“rust”), Finnish ruoste, Estonian rooste. Related to red.

ҡыҙғылт көрән

qıźğılt körən

front-runner-itis runs: rust: myrtle rust

copper rust

A similar substance based on another metal.

A disease of plants caused by a reddish-brown fungus.


rust

en-verb

rust (third-person singular simple present rusts, present participle rusting, simple past and past participle rusted)

rusts (present singular third-person)
rusting (participle present)
rusted (participle past)
rusted (past)

From Middle English rusten, from the noun (see above).

I am sorry to say that, contrary to the majority, I have to report that the forage rusted rather badly.

1902 January 3, “Mapstone Oats: Further Experiences”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 22, page 688:

(intransitive) To be affected with the parasitic fungus called rust.

Must I rust in Egypt? never more / Appear in arms, and be the chief of Greece?

1692, John Dryden, Cleomenes, the Spartan Hero, a Tragedy:

(ambitransitive, figuratively) To (cause to) degenerate in idleness; to make or become dull or impaired by inaction.

It's very common for black cats to rust during the summer.

(intransitive) Of a black cat or its fur, to turn rust-coloured following long periods of exposure to sunlight.


ginger

en-noun

ginger (countable and uncountable, plural gingers)

→ Greek: τζίντζερ (tzíntzer)

→ Japanese: ジンジャー (jinjā)

→ Maltese: ġinġer

→ Manx: jinshar

→ Welsh: sinsir

→ Zulu: újínja

Etymology tree
Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺 (iñci)
Old Tamil 𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (vēr)
Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (iñcivēr)bor.
Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 (siṃgivera)der.
Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis)bor.
Latin zingiberi
Late Latin gingiberbor.
Proto-West Germanic *gingiberō
Old English gingifer
Late Latin gingiber
Old French gingembreinflu.
Middle English gingivere
Middle English gingere
English ginger
Inherited from Middle English gingere, alteration of gingivere, from Old English gingifer, gingiber (influenced by Old French gingembre), from Medieval Latin gingiber, zingiber, from Latin zingiberi, from Late Ancient Greek ζιγγίβερις (zingíberis), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀕𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭 (siṃgivera), ultimately from Dravidian, compare Old Tamil 𑀇𑀜𑁆𑀘𑀺𑀯𑁂𑀭𑁆 (iñcivēr) and Tamil இஞ்சிவேர் (iñcivēr) from இஞ்சி (iñci, “ginger”) + வேர் (vēr, “root”).

etymon

/ˈd͡ʒɪnd͡ʒɚ/

Can you buy dry ginger in Croatia? If not what is an alternative?

(colloquial, countable and uncountable) Ginger ale, or can or bottle of such (especially if dry).

Here’s, um, not toast but bread, anyway. And a can of ginger.

A lot of people will tell you ‘ginger’ tastes best in glass, and there is a science behind that,” says the company’s commercial director.

2015 August 19, Douglas Fraser, bbc.co.uk:

Maybe I was naive in thinking that baking with fizzy juice (soda, ginger, pop, whatever your regional name for the stuff is!) would be straightforward.

2016 January 7, Amy, baking with granny.co.uk:

(colloquial, Scotland, especially Glasgow, countable and uncountable) Any fizzy soft drink, or can or bottle of such; pop; soda.


lion

lions (plural)
lion (plural rare)
lyon (alternative)

→ Hawaiian: liona

→ Japanese: ライオン (raion)

→ Maia: laion

→ Tokelauan: leona

From Middle English lyoun, lion, leon, borrowed from Old French lion, from Latin leō, (accusative: leōnem), from Ancient Greek λέων (léōn), of unclear origin. Doublet of Leo, leu, lev, and Lyon. Displaced Old English lēo, from the same Latin source.

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb

A light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.

(historical) An old Scottish coin, with a lion on the obverse, worth 74 shillings.


lion

Of the light brown color that resembles the fur of a lion.


wheat

From Middle English whete, from Old English hwǣte, from Proto-West Germanic *hwaitī, from Proto-Germanic *hwaitijaz (compare West Frisian weet, Dutch weit, Low German Weten, German Weizen, Danish hvede, Swedish vete, Norwegian Nynorsk kveite, Icelandic hveiti), from *hwītaz (“white”). More at white.

Wheaten, of a light brown color, like that of wheat.

cone wheat Triticum turgidum subsp. turgidum

English wheat Triticum turgidum subsp. turgidum

Polish wheat Triticum turgidum subsp. polonicum

rivet wheat Triticum turgidum subsp. turgidum


cocoa

A Dictionary of the English Language
Samuel Johnson
en:cocoa

en-noun

cocoa (countable and uncountable, plural cocoas)

From Spanish cacao, from Classical Nahuatl cacahuatl. The form cocoa came about by confusion with coco, popularized by Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language. Doublet of cacao.

An unsweetened brown powder made from roasted, ground cocoa beans, used in making chocolate, and in cooking.


linen

linen (countable and uncountable, plural linens)

From Middle English lynnen, lynen, from Old English līnen (“linen", "made of flax”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnīn (“made of flax”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”), equivalent to line + -en. Cognate with Latin līnum (“flax”) and thus also Linum. More at line.

inh

Here, in the transept and choir, where the service was being held, one was conscious every moment of an increasing brightness; colours glowing vividly beneath the circular chandeliers, and the rows of small lights on the choristers' desks flashed and sparkled in front of the boys' faces, deep linen collars, and red neckbands.

1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter V, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

(uncountable) Thread or cloth made from flax fiber.

She put the freshly cleaned linens into the linen closet.

But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶[…]The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window at the old mare feeding in the meadow below by the brook,[…].

1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

(countable) Domestic textiles, such as tablecloths, bedding, towels, underclothes, etc., that are made of linen or linen-like fabrics of cotton or other fibers; linens.

A light beige colour, like that of linen cloth undyed.


fawn

From Middle English fawne, fowne, foun, from Old French faon, foon, feon, from Vulgar Latin *fētōnem, from Latin fētus (“offspring, young”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suckle, nurse”). Displaced native Old English hindċealf (literally “deer calf”). Doublet of fetus.

ncog

A pale brown colour tinted with yellow, like that of a fawn.


fawn

en-verb

fawn (third-person singular simple present fawns, present participle fawning, simple past and past participle fawned)

fawns (present singular third-person)
fawning (participle present)
fawned (participle past)
fawned (past)


fawn

From Middle English fawnen, from Old English fagnian, alternative form of fæġnian (“to celebrate”), whence Middle English fainen, English fain. Cognate with Old Norse fagna. See also fain.

(intransitive) To exhibit affection or attempt to please.


moccasin

moccasins (plural)
mocassin (alternative)
moccassin (alternative)

John Smith (explorer)
Louisville Zoo
Musée de l'Armée
Néstor Kirchner
President of Argentina

From Powhatan makasin, mockasin, mawhcasuns (plural), from Proto-Algonquian *maxkeseni. The word is cognate with Massachusett mohkisson, mokussin, Mi'kmaq mksɨn, Munsee mahkusin, Ojibwe makizin. First appears c. 1612 in the writings of John Smith. It has been suggested that sense 4 (“North American snake”) may be derived from a different Native American word.

refn

From the collection of the Musée de l'Armée in Paris, France.

The formal moccasins belonged to the former President of Argentina Néstor Kirchner (1950–2010) and are from the collection of the Museo del Bicentenario in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The term Chippewa, which is generally applied to this nation, is derived from that of O̓ˊche̓pe̓ˊwa̓g, which they restrict to the Indians who reside near Fond du Lac, it signifies plaited shoes, from the fashion among those Indians of puckering their moccassins.

1824, William H[ypolitus] Keating, “Account of the Chippewa Indians. Their Usages, Manners, and Customs.”, in A Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter’s River, Lake Winnepeek, Lake of the Woods, &c. &c. […] In Two Volumes, volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea— […], →OCLC, page 151:

At length Chingachgook turned his eyes slowly towards his son, and demanded— / "Do the Maquas dare to leave the print of their moccasins in these woods?" / "I have been on their trail," replied the young Indian, "and know that they number as many as the fingers of my two hands; but they lie hid like cowards."

1826, [James Fenimore Cooper], chapter III, in The Last of the Mohicans; a Narrative of 1757. […], volume I, Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea— […], →OCLC, page 38:

The moccasin is preëminently an Indian invention, and one of the highest antiquity. It is true to nature in its adjustment to the foot, beautiful in its materials and finish, and durable as an article of apparel. […] The moccasin is made of one piece of deer skin. It is seamed up at the heel, and also in front, above the foot, leaving the bottom of the moccasin without a seam.

1850 July, Lewis H[enry] Morgan, “The Fabrics of the Iroquois”, in James Stryker, editor, Stryker’s American Register and Magazine, volume IV, Washington, D.C.: W. M. Morrison [et al.], →OCLC, page 321:

The carving of the toes, the articulation of which is slightly arched in some cases, shows great delicacy[…]. The feet of the leaping youths of the 'Ivory Deposit' omit this feature, since, as was usual in the sports of the bull-ring, they were shod in mocassin-like gear.

1930, Arthur Evans, “§87. Chryselephantine Figurines of ‘Boston Goddess’ and Boy-god Connected with Ivory Deposit: The Mother Goddess and Child.”, in The Palace of Minos: A Comparative Account of the Successive Stages of the Early Cretan Civilization as Illustrated by the Discoveries at Knossos, volumes III (The Great Transitional Age in the Northern and Eastern Sections of the Palace: The Most Brilliant Records of Minoan Art and the Evidences of an Advanced Religion), London: Macmillan and Co., Limited […], →OCLC, page 452:

A traditional Native North American shoe, usually without a heel or sole, made of a piece of deerskin or other soft leather turned up at the edges which are either stitched together at the top of the shoe, or sewn to a vamp (a piece covering the top of the foot).


oak

Inherited from Middle English ook, oke, aik, ake, from Old English āc (also as Old English ǣċ), from Proto-West Germanic *aik, from Proto-Germanic *aiks, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyǵ- (“oak”).
Cognates
From Proto-Germanic: Scots aik, West Frisian iik, Dutch eik, German Eiche, German Low German Eek, Danish eg, Norwegian Bokmål eik, Norwegian Nynorsk eik, Swedish ek, Yiddish אייכנבוים (eykhnboym).
From Proto-Indo-European: Latin aesculus (“Durmast oak”), Lithuanian ąžuolas (“oak”), Albanian enjë (“juniper, yew”), Ancient Greek αἰγίλωψ (aigílōps, “Turkey oak”).

cog

Having a rich brown color, like that of oak wood.

an oak table, oak beam, etc.


rufous

en-noun

rufous (countable and uncountable, plural rufouses)

(uncountable) A reddish-brown colour, as of rust.


bay

bay (countable and uncountable, plural bays)

From Middle English bay, bai, from Old French bai, from Latin badius (“reddish brown, chestnut”).

der

A brown colour/color of the coat of some horses.


straw

From Middle English straw, from Old English strēaw, from Proto-West Germanic *strau, from Proto-Germanic *strawą (“that which is strewn, straw”), from Proto-Indo-European *strew- (“to spread around, strew”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sträi (“straw”), West Frisian strie (“straw”), Dutch stro (“straw”), German Low German Stroh (“straw”), German Stroh (“straw”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish strå (“straw”), Icelandic strá (“straw”), Walloon strin, Albanian shtrohë (“kennel”).

der

straw hat


sandy

en-adj

sandy (comparative sandier, superlative sandiest)

sandier (comparative)
sandiest (superlative)

From Middle English sandi, sondy, sandiȝ, from Old English sandiġ (“sandy”), equivalent to sand + -y. Cognate with Dutch zandig (“sandy”), German sandig (“sandy”), Swedish sandig (“sandy”).

Mr. Cooke at once began a tirade against the residents of Asquith for permitting a sandy and generally disgraceful condition of the roads. So roundly did he vituperate the inn management in particular, and with such a loud flow of words, that I trembled lest he should be heard on the veranda.

1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:


bole

en-noun

bole (countable and uncountable, plural boles)

From Ancient Greek βῶλος (bôlos, “clod or lump of earth”): compare French bol. Doublet of bolus.

bor

The shade of reddish brown which resembles this clay.


dun

duns (plural)
doon (alternative)
dún (alternative)

From Irish dún or Scottish Gaelic dùn, from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“fortress”). Cognate with Welsh dinas (“city”). Doublet of town.

Smaller than the broch was the dun, another type of stone-built 'roundhouse'.

2013, T.J. Clarkson, The Makers of Scotland: Picts, Romans, Gaels and Vikings, Edinburgh: Birlinn, →ISBN:

(archaeology) A structure in the Orkney or Shetland islands or in Scotland consisting of a roundhouse surrounded by a circular wall; a broch.


umber

en-noun

umber (countable and uncountable, plural umbers)

From Middle French ombre (“umber”), from terre d'ombre (“dark ochre”), from Old French umbre (“shade, shadow”), from Latin umbra. Doublet of umbra.

Scopus umbretta
Scopus umbretta#Translingual

A dusky brown African wading bird (Scopus umbretta) allied to the shoebill and herons; a hamerkop.


teak

teak (usually uncountable, plural teaks)

teaks (plural)
teek (alternative obsolete)

Derived from Portuguese teca, from Malayalam തേക്ക് (tēkkŭ) / Tamil தேக்கு (tēkku).

Tectona grandis
Tectona grandis#Translingual

(uncountable, countable) An extremely durable timber highly valued for shipbuilding and other purposes, yielded by Tectona grandis (and Tectona spp.).

(countable) A tree of the species in the genus Tectona.

(uncountable) A yellowish brown colour, like that of teakwood.


teak

Of a yellowish brown colour, like that of teak wood.


hepatic

From Middle English epatik, from Late Latin hepaticus, from Ancient Greek ἡπατικός (hēpatikós, “of the liver”), from ἧπαρ (hêpar, “liver”).


tamarind

en-noun

tamarind (countable and uncountable, plural tamarinds)

From Late Middle English thamarynde, from Old French tamarinde, from Medieval Latin tamarindus, from Arabic تَمْر هِنْدِيّ (tamr hindiyy, literally “Indian date”).

der

تَمْر هِنْدِيّ

Tamarindus indica
Tamarindus indica#Translingual

(botany) A tropical tree, Tamarindus indica.

Currently, the Palestinian territories are being featured, and the menu boasts treats like maftoul (a garlicky chicken and couscous dish) and tamar Hindi (chilled tamarind juice with rose water).

2015 April 30, Jordan Bissell, “10 wacky U.S. restaurants”, in CNN:

He began to crack tamarinds, pulling out the pod flesh, adding sugar and black pepper from his palms.

2021, Leone Ross, This One Sky Day, Faber & Faber Limited, page 253:

Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce

(cooking) The fruit of this tree; the pulp is used as spice in Asian cooking and in Worcestershire sauce.

Garcinia gummi-gutta, Malabar tamarind, native to Indonesia.

Garcinia gummi-gutta
Garcinia gummi-gutta#Translingual

Other similar species:
A velvet tamarind (Dialium spp.).

A dark brown color, like that of tamarind pulp (also called tamarind brown).


biscuit

en-noun

biscuit (countable and uncountable, plural biscuits)

Tok Pisin: bisket

→ Bengali: বিস্কুট (biskuṭ)

→ Burmese: ဘီစကွတ် (bhica.kwat)

→ Cebuano: biskuwít, biskwit

→ Fiji Hindi: biskut

→ Gujarati: બિસ્કિટ (biskiṭ)

→ Hausa: bìskît

desc

ביסקוויט//בִּיסְקְוִיט

→ Hebrew: ביסקוויט /בִּיסְקְוִיט (bískvit)

→ Hiligaynon: biskwit

desctree

→ Hindi: बिस्कुट (biskuṭ)
→ Jarawa: biskuʈ (“biscuit”)

→ Indonesian: beskit, biskit

→ Japanese: ビスケット (bisuketto)

→ Korean: 비스켓 (biseuket)

→ Malay: biskut

→ Marshallese: petkōj

→ Punjabi: ਬਿਸਕੁਟ (biskuṭ)

→⇒ Scottish Gaelic: briosgaid

→ Spanish: bísquet, bísquete

→ Swahili: biskuti

→ Sylheti: ꠛꠤꠍꠇꠥꠐ (bisókuṭ)

→ Tagalog: biskuwit

→ Thai: บิสกิต (bís-gìt)

→ Urdu: بسکٹ (biskiṭ)
→ Ushojo: بسکٹ (biskiṭ)

→ Yoruba: bisikíìtì

→ Zulu: bhisikidi

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-biscuit.wav

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From earlier bisket, from Middle English bisquyte, from Old French bescuit (French biscuit); doublet of biscotto.

Weighed myself at the gym and have hit 10st 8lb, a sure sign of things getting out of control—so I can’t even console myself with a chocolate biscuit.

(UK, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, sometimes Canada, rare in the US and the Philippines) A small, flat, baked good which is either hard and crisp or else soft but firm; a cookie.

koekie

small, flat baked good — see also cookie, cracker

(chiefly Canada, US, rare in Scotland and Guernsey) A small, usually soft and flaky bread, generally made with baking soda, which is similar in texture to a scone but which is usually not sweet.

Near-synonyms: tack, bread

He was a long, earnest man, and though born on an icy coast, seemed well adapted to endure hot latitudes, his flesh being hard as twice-baked biscuit.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Knights and Squires”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 125:

en:durable, hard, dry bread or breadlike foodstuff

(especially nautical) Any of several hard bread or breadlike foodstuffs, especially those formerly supplied to naval ships and armies, made with very little water, kneaded into flat cakes, and slowly baked, and which often became infested with weevils.


oatmeal

From Middle English otemele, from ote (“oat”) + mele (“meal, coarse-ground grains”). Equivalent to oat + meal.

Boldly patterned textiles in oatmeal tones with a woven design in a strongly contrasting colour can be used alike for upholstery and as a wall hanging […]

Of a light greyish brown colour, like that of oatmeal


tawny

en-adj

tawny (comparative tawnier, superlative tawniest)

tawnier (comparative)
tawniest (superlative)
tawney (alternative)

The adjective is derived from Middle English tauni, tawne (“having a brownish-orange colour”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman taune, tawné, and Old French tané, tanné, tanney (“of a tan colour”), an adjective use of the past participle of taner (“to turn hide into leather, tan”), from tan (“pulped oak bark used to tan leather, tanbark”), ultimately from Proto-Celtic *tannos (“green oak”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)dʰnwos, *(s)dʰonu (“fir”).
The -aw- spelling (also -au- in Middle English) seems to have been due to the pronunciation of Old French tané.
The verb is derived from the adjective.
Cognates
* Breton tann
* Medieval Latin tannāre (“to dye a tawny color; to tan”)
* Old Irish caerthann (“rowan”)

nb...

taunde, taunei, tauneʒ, tauny, tawny, (chiefly Northern England, Scotland) tanei, tani, tanne, tannee, tanny, tannye, tany, thanne

cog

And if any of your nation attempte once to ſtoppe me in my iorney now towards Calais, […] I in my defence ſhall colour and make red your tawny ground with the effuſion of chriſtian bloud: […]

1577, Raphaell Holinshed, “King Henrie the Fifth”, in The Laste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume II, London: […] for Iohn Hunne, →OCLC, page 1077, column 2:

The VVooſell cock, ſo blacke of hevve, / VVith Orange tavvny bill, / The Throſtle, vvith his note ſo true, / The VVren, vvith little quill.

c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, A Midsommer Nights Dreame. […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Richard Bradock] for Thomas Fisher, […], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

Come, vve muſt haue you turne Fiddler againe, ſlaue, 'get a Baſe Violin at your backe, and march in a Tavvnie Coate, vvith one ſleeue, to Gooſe-faire, and then you'll knovve vs; […]

1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, →OCLC, Act III, scene iv:

To the Queen he gave […] a ſmall Box full of large Needles; then he gave her ſome courſe brovvn Thread, and ſhovv'd her hovv to thred the Needle and ſovv any Thing together vvith the Thread; all vvhich ſhe admired exceedingly, and call'd her Tavvny Maids of Honour about her, that they might learn alſo.

1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part I”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 155:

[T]he vvatch-dogs and aſſembled ſvvains / Have driv'n a tavvny lion from the ſtalls, […]

1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book XI.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 289, lines 661–662:

[T]he head waiter inquired with respectful solicitude whether that port, being a light and tawny wine, was suited to his taste, or whether he would wish to try a fruity port with greater body.

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “Will be Seen in the Long Run, if Not in the Short One, to Concern Mr. Pinch and Others, Nearly. […]”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC, pages 150–151:

[P]erhaps they metamorphose themselves into a tawny squirrel that scampers away and mocks you from the topmost bough.

1859, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “In the Wood”, in Adam Bede […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book first, page 240:

There were the tawny rocks, like lions couchant, defying the ocean, whose waves incessantly dashed against and scoured them with vast quantities of gravel.

1865, Henry D[avid] Thoreau, “The Shipwreck”, in [Sophia Thoreau; William Ellery Channing], editors, Cape Cod, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 14:

He did not come in the dawning; he did not come at noon; / And out o' the tawny sunset, before the rise o' the moon, / When the road was a gypsy's ribbon, looping the purple moor, / A red-coat troop came marching— / Marching—marching— / King George's men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

1906 August, Alfred Noyes, “The Highwayman”, in Poems, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC, part 2, stanza I, pages 48–49:

They fell a-twittering among themselves once more, and this time their intoxicating babble was of violet seas, tawny sands, and lizard-haunted walls.

1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, “Wayfarers All”, in The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC, page 196:

I never thought I'd meet a girl like you / With auburn hair and tawny eyes

1982 March, Frank Maudsley, Paul Reynolds, Ali Score, Mike Score, “I Ran (So Far Away)”, in A Flock of Seagulls, performed by A Flock of Seagulls:

Dio Cassius, writing more than one hundred years after the event, described Boudicca as 'very tall, in appearance most terrifying … the glance of her eye most fierce, her voice harsh … a great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips'.

2001, John Cannon, Anne Hargreaves, “Romano-British Rulers”, in The Kings & Queens of Britain, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 13:

ANTILLEAN NIGHTHAWK Chordeiles gundlachii […] Somewhat tawnier and smaller than Common Nighthawk, but readily distinguished from it only by call.

2019, Roger Tory Peterson, Michael DiGiorgio, Paul Lehman, Peter Pyle, Larry Rosche, “Owls and Nightjars”, in Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America (Peterson Field Guides), 2nd edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 230:

Of a light brown to brownish orange colour.

آدَم

of a light brown to brownish orange colour


tawny

en-verb

tawny (third-person singular simple present tawnies, present participle tawnying, simple past and past participle tawnied)

tawnies (present singular third-person)
tawnying (participle present)
tawnied (participle past)
tawnied (past)

So many friends, their friendſhips daily breake, / That fevve are faithfull, if that fevve be any: / The Sunne ſo ſoone, the painted face vvill tavvny.

1602, Nicholas Breton, The Mothers Blessing, London: […] T[homas] C[reede] for Iohn Smethick, […], →OCLC, signature [D4], recto:

He [Vulcan] ſmels all ſmoake, and vvith his naſty ſvveate / Tavvnies my skinne, out on him vgly knaue, / Mars is my loue, and he my ſvveets ſhall haue.

1613, Thomas Heywood, The Brazen Age, […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, […], →OCLC, Act II, signature I2, verso:

Alas 'tis faded, ſoyl'd vvith the ſmoke of Luſt; / So ſvvarthy as if that glorious face of thine / VVere tavvnyed underneath the torrid Line: […]

1632, Fra[ncis] Quarles, “On Gods Image”, in Divine Fancies: Digested into Epigrammes, Meditations, and Observations, London: […] Iohn Marriot, […], →OCLC, book III, page 148:

The General stares into the sandstorm churned up by all that movement. Like a curtain draped across the world, tawnying the October sky.

2017, Nathan Englander, “2014, Limbo”, in Dinner at the Centre of the Earth, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN:

(transitive) To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.

The countenance alone bespoke the years and the cares of John M‘Whirter. The deep wrinkled brow—the cheek plaited, and tawnied in the sun and the frosts of the north— […]

1825, chapter XI, in The Abduction; or, The Adventures of Major Sarney: A Story of the Times of Charles the Second. […], volume II, London: […] [William Clowes] for Charles Knight, […], →OCLC, page 249:

In his drowse it all turned gleaming and mixing in him, his whole life, like the river gleaming taut between the trees. And everything that had ever happened to him tawnied over by the voluptuous light of the last fall, and his mouth watered for it all.

1990, Meridel Le Sueur, “Gone Home”, in Elaine Hedges, editor, Ripening: Selected Work, 2nd edition, New York, N.Y.: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, →ISBN, page 215:

[C]olheita is actually a tawny Port from a single vintage. In other words, it has aged (and softened and tawnied) in wood for many years.

2019, Ed McCarthy, Mary Ewing-Mulligan, “Wine Roads Less Traveled: Fortified and Dessert Wines”, in Wine for Dummies (For Dummies), 7th edition, Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, part 5 (Wine’s Exotic Face), page 318:

(intransitive) To become a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.


tawny

en-noun

tawny (countable and uncountable, plural tawnies or tawnys)

From Middle English tauni, tawne (“brownish-orange colour; cloth of this colour; sweet beverage of this colour”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman tawné, and Old French tané, tanné, tanney (“tan colour; cloth of this colour”), from tané (verb): see further at etymology 1.
Sense 2.1 (“Eurasian bullfinch”) is due to the brown colour of the female.

kellanruskea

something of a light brown or brownish orange colour

Neere to Canuſia, the ſheepe be deepe yellovv or tavvnie; and about Tarentum, they are of a brovvne and duſkiſh colour.

1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book VIII.] Divers Kinds of Wooll and Clothes.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], 1st tome, London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC, page 227:

Despise not my discolour'd look: / This tawny from the sun I took.

1641, George Sandys, “A Paraphrase upon the Song of Solomon. Canto I.”, in The Poetical Works of George Sandys. […], volume II, London: John Russell Smith, […], published 1872, →OCLC, page 340:

From the follovving Dye are Compoſed the beſt Tavvnies, Grey and Crimſon Goat Colours. […] The Silk muſt be put in vvhen the Suds are cold, for the colder the Suds, the blevver the Violet Colour, vvhich muſt alvvays be blevver than the Tavvnies.

1705, “Part I. Of Silk Dying.”, in [anonymous], transl., The Whole Art of Dying. […], London: […] William Pearson, and sold by J[ohn] Nutt, […], →OCLC, page 14:

And thus by varying the Colours you ſhall produce all ſorts of mixtures: So black and vvhite variouſly mixed make a vaſt Company of deep and light Greys, Bleus and Yellovvs, many Greens; Red and Yellovv Orange Tavvnies, […] the more the Red the deeper the Orange Tavvnies, and ſo forth; and thus muſt they in your VVork be ſhaded and heightened vvith Colours of their ovvn Affinity: […]

1720, Tho[mas] Page, Junior, “The Materials of Painting, Describing the Chief Colours to be Used; […]”, in The Art of Painting in Its Rudiment, Progress, and Perfection: […], Norwich, Norfolk: […] , […], →OCLC, pages 48–49:

'Gad, if Miss S. will have me, I'm her man. I ain't particular about a shade or so of tawny.

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “In which Mr. Osborne Takes Down the Family Bible”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 200:

A light brown to brownish orange colour.

[T]he Herehaught [herald] muſt have a ſinguler reſpect to the face of him that ſhould haue the Armes, vvhere he ſhal vvel perceiue in vvhat ſeaſõ of the yere, his ovvn complexion vvill ſerue him to do beſt ſeruice in: […] If in Somer, either a Hound or Salamandra, or ſome part of them, of the colour Bruske, vvhich is betvveene Geules and tavvney.

1597, Gerard Leigh [i.e., Gerard Legh], The Accedence of Armorie, London: […] Henrie Ballard […], →OCLC, folio 116, verso:

Tavvny (ſaith Leigh [i.e., Gerard Legh]) is a Colour of vvorſhip, and of ſome Heralds it is called Bruske, and is moſt commonly borne of French Gentlemen, but very fevv doe beare it in England. In Blazon it is knovvne by the name of Tenne. It is (ſaith he) the ſureſt colour that is (of ſo bright a hevv being compounded) for it is made of tvvo bright Colours, vvhich are Red and Yellovv: […]

1632, John Guillim, “Sect[ion] I. Chap[ter] III.”, in A Display of Heraldrie: […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Badger for Ralph Mab, →OCLC, page 21:

Tenne, vvhich is the tavvny or Orange colour, is marked by diagonal lines dravvn from the Siniſter to the Dexter ſide of the Shield, traverſed by perpendicular lines from the Chief; […]

1765, Mark Anthony Porny [pseudonym; Antoine Pyron du Martre], “Of the Essential and Integral Parts of Arms. Article II. Of the Tinctures.”, in The Elements of Heraldry, […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […], →OCLC, section I (Of Colours), page 17:

Some heraldic writers extend the number of tinctures to seven, by the addition of sanguine or murrey, dark blood or mulberry-colour, and tenné, tawny, or orange-colour; while others who admit them into the catalogue declare them, at the same time, to be stainant, or disgraceful; but, as I have stated in my notice of Abatements (p. 171), it is very improbable any one would bear arms so degraded; and the strongest proof that no such opinion with respect to these two colours existed in the days of chivalry is, that the livery colours of the house of York were murrey and blue, and that tawny was apparently much affected by the retainers of the nobility and Church dignitaries.

1859 April, J[ames] R[obinson] Planché, “Appendix”, in The Pursuivant of Arms; or, Heraldry Founded upon Facts. […], new edition, London: Robert Hardwicke, […], →OCLC, page 209:

(specifically, heraldry) Synonym of tenné (“a rarely-used tincture of orange or bright brown”).


brownish

en-adj

brownish (comparative more brownish, superlative most brownish)

more brownish (comparative)
most brownish (superlative)

The Giraffe and the Zebra and the Eland and the Koodoo and the Hartebeest lived there; and they were 'sclusively sandy-yellow-brownish all over […]

1902, Rudyard Kipling, “How the Leopard Got His Spots”, in Just So Stories:

Two pumps stood side by side in our kitchen. One was for well water and one was a cistern pump—water from the former was hard and clear, from the cistern it was brownish and soft.

1942, Emily Carr, “Waterworks”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:

Watt wore, on his feet, a boot, brown in colour, and a shoe, happily of a brownish colour also.

1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, [Paris]: Olympia Press, →OCLC:

Of a colour which resembles brown; somewhat brown.

brunenc

of a colour which resembles brown; somewhat brown


topaz

en-noun

topaz (usually uncountable, plural topazes)

→ Irish: tópás

→ Welsh: topas

From Old French topace (compare French topaze), from Ancient Greek τόπαζος (tópazos).

A silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine, usually tinted by impurities.

Elgin. Topaz a Saltier and Chief Ruby, on a Canton Pearl a Lyon Rampant Saphyr, which last is their paternal Coat; and the Field Topaz, and Saltier, and Chief Ruby, was the Arms of King Robert the Bruce, they altering the Field from Pearl (as he bore it) to Topaz. / Eglington. Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Saphyr three Flower-de-Liss Topaz, for Montgomery; 2d and 3d, Ruby three Anulets Topaz', ston'd Saphyr, for the Title of Eglington; […]

1720, Francis Nichols, Rudiments of Honour, page 296:

The Field is Ruby, on a Bend Topaz, three Martlets Diamond. […] 4. Pearl, on a Bend Diamond, nine Annulets conjoined in three Links Topaz.

1726, John Guillim, The Banner Display'd; Or, an Abridgment of Guillim, page 504:

(1) Pearl, a Cross, Ruby, with the Effigies of our Saviour thereon, Topaz, born in Memory of one of the Family's fighting against the Turks. (2) Topaz, a Chief Indented, Saphire. (3) Ruby, three covered Cups, Topaz […]

1754, John Lodge, The Peerage of Ireland; Or, a Genealogical History of the ..., page 71:

(heraldry) Or (gold or yellow), in blazoning by precious stones.

Either of two species of very large hummingbirds in the genus Topaza.

A ruby-topaz hummingbird, Chrysolampis mosquitus, the male of which has bright ruby feathers on the head and topaz on the throat


topaz

topazes (plural)
toepass (alternative)
topass (alternative)
toupas (alternative)

Various theories. Hobson-Jobson mentions as possibilities a corruption of Persian (from Turkish) top-chi, "gunner", or a connection with topee, from the hats they wore.

(historical, British India) A black Catholic soldier in the British Army.


antique brass

Of a brownish yellow color, like that of brass, but darker.


bronze yellow

A yellowish brown colour, like that of bronze.


bronze yellow

en-adj

bronze yellow (comparative more bronze yellow, superlative most bronze yellow)

more bronze yellow (comparative)
most bronze yellow (superlative)

Of a yellowish brown colour, like that of bronze.


buckskin

en-noun

buckskin (countable and uncountable, plural buckskins)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-buckskin.wav

From Middle English bukskyn; equivalent to buck + skin.

I have alluded to his buckskins.

1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 3, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:


burlywood

A brown sandy colour, of RGB hexadecimal value #DEB887.


burnt umber

burnt umber (countable and uncountable, plural burnt umbers)


burnt sienna

We drink the last of the spring water in our canteens and, still thirsty, look to the river, that sombre flow the color of burnt sienna, raw umber, muy colorado, too thin to plow–as the Mormons say–and too thick to drink.

1968, Edward Abbey, “Down the River”, in Desert Solitaire: A Season in the Wilderness, McGraw-Hill; republished New York: Touchstone, 1968, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 160:

dark reddish brown colour, like that of roasted sienna.


burnt sienna

Of a dark reddish brown colour, like that of roasted sienna.


butterscotch

butterscotch (usually uncountable, plural butterscotches)

/ˈbʌtɚˌskɑt͡ʃ/

From butter + scotch, with the second element deriving (not from scotch whiskey or Scotland, but) from Middle English scocchen (“to score, nick, cut”), in reference to how the candy is boiled and hardened and then usually scored to make breaking it apart easier. The word is usually said to have originally been a trademark of Parkinson's, who is claimed to have invented it.

der

A hard candy made from butter, brown sugar, syrup and vanilla.


cupreous

From Latin cupreus, from cuprum (“copper”).

A reddish-brown color, like that of polished copper.


cupreous

en-adj

cupreous (comparative more cupreous, superlative most cupreous)

more cupreous (comparative)
most cupreous (superlative)

(inorganic chemistry) Containing copper.

Of a reddish-brown color, like that of polished copper.


saddle brown

A medium brown colour, like that of a saddle.


saddle brown

Of a medium brown colour, like that of a saddle.


sorrel

en-noun

sorrel (countable and uncountable, plural sorrels)

From Middle English sorel, from Old French sorel, surele (“sorrel”), from Old French sur (“sour”), of Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sūraz (“sour”); equivalent to sour + -el (diminutive suffix). Compare Old English sūre (“sorrel”), Icelandic súra (“sorrel”), Dutch zuring (“dock (plant), sorrel”). More at sour.

Rumex acetosa
Rumex acetosa#Translingual

Any of various plants with acidic leaves of the genus Rumex, especially

Rumex acetosa (common sorrel, garden sorrel), sometimes used as a salad vegetable.

Members of genus Oxalis or family Oxalidaceae, woodsorrels.

Now, many people drink alcohol, but when I was a child I remember drinking sorrel, ginger beer and drinks made from fresh fruits such as soursop and passion-fruit. Sorrel was prepared over a long period, not as quickly as it is now.

2007, African and Caribbean Celebrations, →ISBN, page 56:

For instance, one day we were sitting on the porch, looking down at the lagoon and the yachts from all over the world. He was drinking ginger beer mixed with rum, and I was drinking sorrel. No rum. Out of nowhere, he proposed.

2009, C. C. Alick, Dancing with the Yumawalli: Inspired by True Events, page 62:

Joy and the parents did not go either; we spent a quiet day at home, eating roast chicken and stuffing with our own green-gungu rice and peas, and drinking sorrel.

2012, Claudette Beckford-Brady, Sweet Home, Jamaica, page 390:

Hibiscus sabdariffa
Hibiscus sabdariffa#Translingual

A drink, consumed especially in the Caribbean around Christmas, made from the flowers of Hibiscus sabdariffa: hibiscus tea.


sorrel

From Middle English *sorel, from Middle French *sorel, sorrel, surrel, from Middle French sor (“yellowish-brown, reddish-brown”), probably from Old Frankish *saur (“dried”), from Proto-Germanic *sauzaz (“dry”), from Proto-Indo-European *saus- (“dry, parched”); equivalent to sore (“reddish-brown”) + -el (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch soor (“dry”), Old High German sōrēn (“to become dry”), and Old English sēar (“withered, barren”). See also sere.


sorrel

A little harmless gossip ensued on various themes, such as where old Aunt Sally got her new red head-kerchief, and how "Missis was a going to give Lizzy that spotted muslin gown, when she 'd got her new berage made up;" and how Mas'r Shelby was thinking of buying a new sorrel colt, that was going to prove an addition to the glories of the place.

1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 4, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC, page 50:

Of a brown colour, with a tint of red. (especially: a sorrel horse)


titian

en-adj

titian (comparative more titian, superlative most titian)

more titian (comparative)
most titian (superlative)

Named after Titian (Italian Tiziano), the Italian painter who made frequent use of this colour.

lang

<i class="Latn mention" lang="en">Titian</i>

Of a bright auburn colour, tinted with gold, especially in reference to hair.


tow-colored

Of a pale yellow colour, like that of flax.


wheaten

From Middle English wheten, from Old English hwǣten (“wheaten”); equivalent to wheat + -en.

A pale yellow or beige colour, like that of wheat.


Vandyke brown

en-noun

Vandyke brown (countable and uncountable, plural Vandyke browns)

This colour was named for Sir Anthony Van Dyck, a Flemish painter.

A medium brown colour, originally a pigment made from peat or soil.


champagne

champagne (countable and uncountable, plural champagnes)

champagnes (plural)
Champagne (alternative)

Borrowed from French champagne (“sparkling wine from the Champagne region”), from Champagne (“region and former province of France”), from Late Latin campānia (in full Campānia Rēmēnsis), from campāneus (“of or pertaining to the fields”), from Latin campus (“level ground; field, plain”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂emp- (“to bend, curve”). The English word is a doublet of campagna (“flat stretch of countryside”) (dated), campaign, and campania.

shampanjë

sparkling white wine produced in Champagne

cava

Spanish sparkling white wine made with the méthode champenoise

crémant

French sparkling wine that isn't from the Champagne region

prosecco

Italian sparkling white wine made by dual fermentation method in vats

spumante

Italian sparkling wine, sometimes made with the méthode champenoise

We suppose that this author has done his best to be satirical; and he may have thought that his subject would have inspired him with all that was smart and piquant: but the plain truth is that the promised champagne turns out to be vapid small beer.

1809 April, “Art. 37. Military Promotions; or the Duke and His Dulcinea. A Satirical Poem. 4to. 2s. 6d. Richardson. [book review]”, in The Monthly Review; or, Literary Journal, Enlarged, volume LVIII, London: Sold by T[homas] Becket, […], →OCLC, page 439:

"[…] That stuff on the table may be a vehicle for filberts and walnuts, but not for such communications as yours. —Bring me champaigne," he said to the attendant who answered on his summons. The domestic returned, and brought a flask of champaigne, with two large silver cups.

1822, [Walter Scott], chapter VIII, in Peveril of the Peak. […], volume IV, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 197:

[T]he women will wear cashmeres, and then men will drink champagne.

1827, Francis Herbert [pseudonym; William Cullen Bryant, Robert Charles Sands, and Gulian Crommelin Verplanck], “The Legend of the Devil’s Pulpit”, in The Talisman for MDCCCXXVIII, New York, N.Y.: Elam Bliss, […], →OCLC, page 284:

Champagne wine, with its amber hue, it éclat, its sparkle, and its perfume, arouses the senses and produces a cheerfulness which flashes through the company like a spark of electricity. At the magic word, Champagne! the guests, dull and torpid with good feeding, awake at once.

1867, Robert Tomes, chapter XV, in The Champagne Country, New York, N.Y.: Published by [Melancthon M.] Hurd and [Henry Oscar] Houghton, […], →OCLC, page 173:

The principal difference between champagnes and sparkling hocks designed for the English market consists in the former being made almost exclusively from red grapes, pressed immediately they are gathered, and not allowed to ferment in their skins, while the latter are made from white grapes alone. The finest champagnes come from the pineau noir, or black Burgundy grape, while the best sparkling hocks are made from the Riesling, […]

1875 January 8, “Sparkling Hock”, in The Pall Mall Budget: […], volume XIII, London: [s.n.] […], →OCLC, page 14, column 2:

Served throughout the meal are sherries, red wines, champagnes, and brandies.

1988 May 20, Daniel Santow, “Restaurant tours: You loved the movie, now eat the dinner”, in Chicago Reader, archived from the original on 2018-07-15:

As with a solo cello, a single-vineyard champagne highlights the virtuosity of the performer (whether it's the producer or the site). A vintage champagne demonstrates the singular personality of the year, while a great blended champagne such as Krug's Grand Cuvée expresses a multifaceted, encompassing experience akin to the London Symphony Orchestra playing [Pyotr Ilyich] Tchaikovsky's Symphony no. 6, leveraging its components to create something larger than each of them represents individually.

2017, Peter Liem, Kate Leahy, “The Primacy of Place”, in Champagne: The Essential Guide to the Wines, Producers, and Terroirs of the Iconic Region, Calif., N.Y.: Ten Speed Press, →ISBN, part 1 (Understanding Champagne), page 11:

(countable, uncountable) A sparkling white wine made from a blend of grapes, especially Chardonnay and pinot, produced in Champagne, France, by the méthode champenoise.

(countable, uncountable, informal) Any sparkling white wine.


champagne

en-verb

champagne (third-person singular simple present champagnes, present participle champagning, simple past and past participle champagned)

champagnes (present singular third-person)
champagning (participle present)
champagned (participle past)
champagned (past)

And equally, the central matter of Henry's infidelities has no actual dramatisation, so that we never see him coming out of a stage door with a Follies girl on his arm, or champagning a debutante, let alone entering a boudoir.

1989, Bruce Babington, Peter William Evans, “‘The Love Parade’: Lubitsch and Romantic Comedy”, in Affairs to Remember: The Hollywood Comedy of the Sexes, Manchester, New York, N.Y.: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 88:

(transitive) To ply or treat with champagne.

We clareted and champagned till two—then supped, and finished with a kind of regency punch composed of madeira, brandy, and green tea, no real water being admitted therein.

1814 April 9, Lord Byron, Thomas Moore, “Letter CLXXIV. To Mr. Moore.”, in Letters and Journals of Lord Byron: With Notices of His Life, by Thomas Moore. In Two Volumes, volume I, London: John Murray, […], published 1830, →OCLC, page 540:

On one occasion, I was at a meeting of the turf in an hotel after the races, where violent discussions and heavy champagning were going on.

1846, Richard Henry Bonnycastle, “Emigrants and Immigration”, in Canada and the Canadians, in 1846. … In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, publisher, […], →OCLC, page 34:


mocha

en-noun

mocha (countable and uncountable, plural mochas)

From Mocha, Yemen, a port on the Red Sea, from Arabic اَلْمُخَا (al-muḵā), for its role as a major marketplace for coffee during Ottoman rule.
The beans often had a chocolaty flavor, hence by extension came to refer to any coffee with a chocolate flavor, or any mixture of coffee and chocolate flavors, notably coffee with chocolate syrup added.

(countable) A coffee drink with chocolate syrup added, or a serving thereof.

mocha fudge

A dark brown colour, like that of mocha coffee.

Any of a number of species of moths in the geometrid subfamily Sterrhinae, many European species having dark brown coloration.

(historical) An Abyssinian weight, equivalent to a Troy grain.


mocha

Of a dark brown colour, like that of mocha coffee.


ecru

Borrowed from French écru (“raw, unbleached”).

bor+

Miriam fell in love with a tulle-and-lace gown, but Judy returned to the first one they'd looked at, an ecru satin bridal gown...

2005, Binnie Kirshenbaum, An Almost Perfect Moment:

I might rethink my cream suit, I say. “Do you really have a cream suit?” she sighs. “Is it cream or is it ecru?” With that, I learn a new word.

2025 May 17, Henry Mance, quoting Trinny Woodall, “Lunch with the FT: Trinny Woodall”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 3:


manila

a manila envelope

Made of manila paper or material like it.

Yellow-brown; colored like manila paper.


manila

en-noun

manila (usually uncountable, plural manilas)

Fiber made from abaca (Manila hemp), used to make ropes and manila paper.

A kind of cheroot manufactured in Manila.


abram

en-adj

abram (comparative more abram, superlative most abram)

more abram (comparative)
most abram (superlative)

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press


mousy

mousy (comparative mousier, superlative mousiest)

mousier (comparative)
mousiest (superlative)
mousey (alternative)

From mouse + -y (forms adjectives from nouns).


root beer

en-noun

root beer (countable and uncountable, plural root beers)

root beers (plural)
rootbeer (alternative)

/ˈɹuːt ˌbɪə/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-root beer.wav

The term is attested since before the lifetime of Charles Elmer Hires, but he is widely credited with popularizing it much further than it had previously been; his proprietary beverage was inspired by an earlier root tea, and he planned to sell it under that name, but he changed its name to broaden the sales appeal. For more, see Wikipedia at root beer § History.

In 1919, when Roy Allen and Frank Wright started selling their new root beer beverage to a thirsty America, national Prohibition was taking its grip on the country. Their timing couldn't have been better. No longer able to legally drink real beer, thirsty patriots had to settle for this sweet, foamy concoction derived from roots, herbs, and berries.

2002, Todd Wilbur, Top Secret Recipes, Penguin, →ISBN:

A beverage, most often a carbonated soft drink made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, sassafras root bark, nutmeg, anise, and molasses, among other things.


mahogany

en-adj

mahogany (comparative more mahogany, superlative most mahogany)

more mahogany (comparative)
most mahogany (superlative)
mahoganey (alternative)
mahoganee (alternative)
mahogeney (alternative)
mahogeny (alternative)
mohogeny (alternative)
mohogeney (alternative)
mahagony (alternative)
mahagoney (alternative)

Honduras
Indigenous languages of the Americas
mahogany

A word of unknown origin, concocted in either English or Middle Dutch from one or more exotic phytonyms and common European words.
Alternatively from Portuguese mogano, mógono, obsolete forms of mogno, itself of unknown origin (often suggested to be from the English word instead of the reverse), perhaps from an extinct indigenous language, such as a Mayan language originally spoken in Honduras or a South American language, but no known cognates survive. Another theory attempts to link Yoruba moganwo (“trees”, literally “tall ones”), but this has been criticized.


terracotta

en-noun

terracotta (usually uncountable, plural terracottas)

terracottas (plural)
terra cotta (alternative)
terra-cotta (alternative)

/ˌtɛɹ.əˈkɒt.ə/

/ˌtɛɹ.əˈkɑt.ə/

Borrowed from Italian terra (“earth”) + cotta (“baked”).

A reddish brown colour, like that of terra cotta.


caramel

en-verb

caramel (third-person singular simple present caramels, present participle caramelling or carameling, simple past and past participle caramelled or carameled)

caramels (present singular third-person)
caramelling (participle present)
carameling (participle present)
caramelled (participle past)
caramelled (past)
carameled (participle past)
carameled (past)
caromel (alternative archaic)

General American, Mary–marry–merry merger

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-caramel.wav

Borrowed from French caramel, from Spanish caramelo, from Portuguese caramelo, dissimilated from Late Latin calamellus, diminutive of calamus (“reed”) (and a doublet of chalumeau and shawm). Alternatively from Medieval Latin cannamellis, which is a compound of canna + mellis.

To turn out, place the dish over the mould, and invert both together, when, if the caramelling has been complete, the pudding should slip out without any difficulty at all.

1900, M. M. Mallock, The Economics of Modern Cookery: Or, A Younger Son's Cookery Book:

(transitive, cooking, dated) To caramelize.


ash blond

ash blonde (alternative)
ash-blonde (alternative)
ash-blond (alternative)


café au lait

en-noun

café au lait (countable and uncountable, plural café au laits or cafés au lait)

café au laits (plural)
cafés au lait (plural)
coffee au lait (alternative)
cafe au lait (alternative)

/ˌkæfeɪ əʊ ˈleɪ/

/kæˌfeɪ əʊ ˈleɪ/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-café au lait.wav

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-café au lait.wav

Borrowed from French café au lait (literally “coffee with milk”).

bor

Coffee and hot milk served in separate jugs as a breakfast drink.


fallow

en-adj

fallow (comparative more fallow, superlative most fallow)

more fallow (comparative)
most fallow (superlative)

[Alt: A photograph of a light brown deer.]
From Middle English falwe, from Old English fealu, from Proto-Germanic *falwaz (compare West Frisian feal, Dutch vaal, German falb, fahl), from Proto-Indo-European *polwos (compare Lithuanian pal̃vas (“sallow, wan”), Russian поло́вый (polóvyj, “wan, light yellow”), Serbo-Croatian plâv (“blond, blue”), Ancient Greek πολιός (poliós, “grey”)), from Proto-Indo-European *pelH- (“pale, gray”).

der

a fallow deer or greyhound

How does your fallow greyhound, sir?

a. 1597, William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, act 1, scene 1:

Of a pale red or yellow, light brown; dun.


bistre

en-noun

bistre (countable and uncountable, plural bistres)

A brown pigment made from soot, especially from beech wood.

[O]h! what an object he was! The rings round his eyes were of the colour of bistre […]

1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 46, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

A mid-to-dark brown color resembling the pigment.