name
Meaning 1
A nickname of the surname Brown.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
brownie
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈbɹaʊni/
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -aʊni
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Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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CMU ARPABET: B R AW1 N IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
A small square piece of rich cake, usually made with chocolate.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, usually
Topics: baking, cooking, food, lifestyle
Examples
- Order for the brownie was placed but it took half an hour to prepare it.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: chocolate brownie
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A sweet bread with brown sugar and currants.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, New-Zealand, uncountable
Topics: baking, cooking, food, lifestyle
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
A mythical creature, a helpful elf who would secretly do people's housework for them.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: arts, folklore, history, human-sciences, literature, media, publishing, sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A copper coin, brown in colour; a penny, halfpenny, or cent.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
A household spirit or revered ancestor.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Topics: lifestyle, paganism, religion
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 7
Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the Eurasian genus Miletus.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 8
A brown trout (Salmo trutta).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, informal, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 9
A widow rockfish (Sebastes entomelas), a fish in the family Sebastidae.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, informal, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 10
Alternative letter-case form of Brownie (“a girl in the first level of Girl Guides (US: Girl Scouts)”).
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: alt-of, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 11
A tall, long-necked beer bottle, made from brown coloured glass.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, New-Zealand, colloquial, countable, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 12
A person with brown skin.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, ethnic, offensive, slur, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 13
A junior Girl Guide.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, Canada, UK
Examples
- 1958 July 14, Boot by a Brash Brownie, LIFE, page 124, In Toronto young Brownies of the Girl Guides, the Canadian girl scouts, stood in parade formation with full-fledged Guides.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 14
A junior Girl Scout.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US
Examples
- 1952 March 24, Girl Scouts: They Are Observing Their 40th Birthday, LIFE, page 109, Any girl willing to follow the simple rules can join the Girl Scouts. As Brownies they will spend most of their time playing games and singing songs like the Brownie Smile Song: “I′ve something in my pocket; It belongs across my face, And I keep it very close at hand In a most convenient place.... I′m sure you couldn′t guess it If you guessed a long, long while, So I′ll take it out and put it on—It′s a great big Brownie smile!”
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 15
square or bar of very rich chocolate cake usually with nuts
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cookie, cooky, biscuit
noun
Meaning 16
(folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: elf, hob, gremlin, pixie, pixy, imp
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: fairy, faery, faerie, fay, sprite
Narrower terms: leprechaun, sandman
noun
Meaning 17
a junior Girl Scout
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: Girl Scout
History
Etymology
From Brown + -ie.
From brown + -ie (diminutive suffix). In folkloric sense, originally Scots. For sense 7, compare with Dutch kabouter (“a very young female member of the scout movement”) (literally "gnome").
From brownie (“a helpful elf”). Specifically, inspired by the story "The Brownies" by Juliana Horatia Ewing (published in 1870, The Brownies and Other Tales), in which two children, Tommy and Betty, learn that children can be helpful brownies or lazy boggarts. But compare with Dutch kabouter (“a very young female member of the scout movement”) (literally, a "gnome").
Across languages
Translations
53 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Arabic: جنيَة سمراء صغيرَة — small rich cake
- Azerbaijani: damdabaca — small rich cake
- Belarusian: бра́ўні (bráwni) — small rich cake
- Chinese Mandarin: 布朗尼 (bùlǎngní) — small rich cake
- Dutch: brownie — small rich cake
- Finnish: mokkapala — small rich cake
- French: brownie — small rich cake
- German: Brownie — small rich cake
- Hungarian: brownie — small rich cake
- Icelandic: brúnka — small rich cake
- Indonesian: bronis — small rich cake
- Irish: donnóg — small rich cake
- Italian: brownie — small rich cake
- Japanese: ブラウニー (buraunī) — small rich cake
- Lithuanian: braunis — small rich cake
- Polish: brownie — small rich cake
- Portuguese: brownie — small rich cake
- Romanian: negresă — small rich cake
- Russian: бра́уни (bráuni) — small rich cake
- Thai: บราวนี (bpraao-níi) — small rich cake
- Turkish: brownie — small rich cake
- Turkish: browni — small rich cake
- Turkish: brovni — small rich cake
- Vietnamese: ma tốt — small rich cake
- Welsh: browni — small rich cake
- Chinese Mandarin: 棕仙 (zōngxiān) — helpful elf
- Czech: šotek — helpful elf
- Danish: nisse — helpful elf
- Faroese: vættur — helpful elf
- Finnish: kotitonttu — helpful elf
- German: Heinzelmännchen — helpful elf
- Irish: gruagach — helpful elf
- Japanese: ブラウニー (buraunī) — helpful elf
- Norwegian: nisse — helpful elf
- Russian: домово́й (domovój) — helpful elf
- Russian: бра́уни (bráuni) — helpful elf
- Scottish Gaelic: ùraisg — helpful elf
- Swedish: tomte — helpful elf
- Welsh: bwbach — helpful elf
- Finnish: surukorusimppu — fish Sebastes entomelas
- Finnish: sudenpentu — junior Girl Guide
- Finnish: sudari — junior Girl Guide
- Irish: Brídín — junior Girl Guide
- Irish: Brigín — junior Girl Guide
- Irish: Donnóg — junior Girl Guide
- Polish: zuchna — junior Girl Guide
- Polish: zuchenka — junior Girl Guide
- Finnish: sudenpentu — junior Girl Scout
- Finnish: sudari — junior Girl Scout
- Icelandic: ljósálfur — junior Girl Scout
- Irish: Brídín — junior Girl Scout
- Irish: Brigín — junior Girl Scout
- Irish: Donnóg — junior Girl Scout