BROWNIE

brownie

(noun) square or bar of very rich chocolate cake usually with nuts

elf, hob, gremlin, pixie, pixy, brownie, imp

(noun) (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous

Brownie

(noun) a junior Girl Scout

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

From the story "The Brownies" by Juliana Horatia Ewing, written in 1870. In the story two children, Tommy and Betty, learn that children can be helpful brownies or lazy boggarts.

Noun

Brownie (plural Brownies)

(Britain, Canada, Australia) A junior Girl Guide.

(US) A junior Girl Scout.

Synonyms

• (junior Girl Guide): Rosebud (historical)

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Brownie

A nickname of the surname Brown.

Etymology

Noun

brownie (plural brownies)

(culinary) A small square piece of rich cake, usually made with chocolate.

(folklore) A mythical creature, a helpful elf who would secretly do people's housework for them.

(paganism) A household spirit or revered ancestor.

Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the Eurasian genus Miletus.

(informal) A brown trout (Salmo trutta).

(Australia, New Zealand, colloquial) A tall, long-necked beer bottle, made from brown coloured glass.

(ethnic slur, offensive) A person of Arab, Indian or Hispanic descent. Also rarely used for a Native American or Pacific Islander.

(US) A girl in the first level of girl scouts.

Source: Wiktionary


Brown"ie, n. Etym: [So called from its supposed tawny or swarthy color.]

Definition: An imaginary good-natured spirit, who was supposed often to perform important services around the house by night, such as thrashing, churning, sweeping. [Scot.]

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

4 April 2025

GUILLOTINE

(verb) kill by cutting the head off with a guillotine; “The French guillotined many Vietnamese while they occupied the country”


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Coffee Trivia

An article published in Harvard Men’s Health Watch in 2012 shows heavy coffee drinkers live longer. The researchers examined data from 400,000 people and found out that men who drank six or more coffee cups per day had a 10% lower death rate.

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