Brown (Paperback)

Brown is a color term, denoting a range of composite colors produced by a mixture of orange, red, rose, or yellow with black. The term is from Old English brn, in origin for any dusky or dark shade of color. The Common Germanic adjective *brnoz, *brn meant both dark colors and a glistening or shining quality, whence burnish. The current meaning develops in Middle English from the 14th century. The adjective is applied to naturally occurring colors, referring to animal fur, human hair, human skin pigmentation (tans), partially charred or carbonized fiber as in toasted bread and other foods, peat, withered leaves, etc. In terms of the visible spectrum, "brown" refers to high wavelength hues, yellow, orange, or red, in combination with low luminance or saturation. Since brown may cover a wide range of the visible spectrum, composite adjectives such as red brown, yellowish brown, dark brown or light brown (amber). The brown and orange disks of color are objectively identical, in identical gray surrounds, in this image; their perceived color categories depend on what white they are compared to.