Etymology 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").
Baking, Cooking, Food, LifestyleUsually A small square piece of rich cake, usually made with chocolate.
Order for the brownie was placed but it took half an hour to prepare it.
[…]if she ever found out she was dying, she'd just eat brownies all day and night until the very end.2000, Lori Gottlieb, Stick Figure: a diary of my former self, page 173:
4 more examples
Rona served Althea coffee with yellow milk curdling in the center, and a hunk of brownie, and Althea said, “Thanks so much.”2000, Elizabeth Stuckey-French, “The Visible Man”, in The First Paper Girl in Red Oak, Iowa and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: Doubleday, →ISBN, page 197:
On a Saturday afternoon, my wife bought her favorite treat for dessert that evening, a gourmet, nut-filled brownie.2005, Aaron Lazare, On Apology, unnumbered page:
After cooking the brownies until we could smell the pot, we each ate a large brownie.2005, Steve Otto, Memoirs of a Drugged-Up, Sex-Crazed Yippie, page 228:
“If she has to list everyone from school friends to teachers, this is going to take a while, huh?” Stephanie commented, slipping a generous slice of brownie onto a plate. […] She carried a plate with a slice of brownie around and set it in front of Basil, […]2015, Lynsay Sands, The Immortal who Loved Me, London: Gollancz, →ISBN, pages 224–225:
It was an amusing sight to see the three of us, each with a huge hunch of “browny” (bread sweetened with brown sugar and currants) in one hand, and a lump of ice in the other, for there was no water within reach.1883, James Edge Partington, “A Race Meeting in the Bush—A Graphic Though Ungallant Picture—Life on an Australian Stock Farm—[…]” (chapter VII), in Random Rot. A Journal of Three Years’ Wanderings about the World., Altrincham: […] [T]he Guardian Office, page 312:
They rode quietly along to the stockman’s hut, gave their message, rested their horses for half-an-hour, and had some tea without milk, and a piece of cake made of flour, fat, and sugar, commonly known as [“]browny.”1890, E[lphinstone] Davenport Cleland, “‘The Shaking’ Mallee Tree”, in The White Kangaroo. A Tale of Colonial Life. Founded on Fact., London: Wells Gardner, Darton, & Co., […], page 57:
4 more examples
Four o’clock, “Smoke O!” again, and more tea and “brownie” (a bread sweetened with sugar and currants).1890 September 20, M. Hirst Browne, “Shearing-Time in the Riverine”, in The Argus, number 13,804, Melbourne, Vic., page 13, column 6:
Roast mutton and brownie are given us to eat, and with a billy of tea beside us we are comfortable enough, prisoners and all.1892, Gilbert Parker, “Glimpses of Australian Life: In Time of Drought”, in Round the Compass in Australia, Melbourne, Vic.; […]: E[dward] W[illiam] Cole, […], part I, page 36:
Pile of “brownie” on the bare black boards at the end of the table.1900, Henry Lawson, “‘A Rough Shed’”, in On the Track, Sydney, N.S.W.: Angus and Robertson, […], page 129:
Undoubtedly our Christmas dinner was a huge success—from a black fellow’s point of view it was the most sensible thing we Whites had ever organised; for half the Vealer, another huge pudding, several yards of sweet currant “brownie,” a new pipe apiece, and a few pounds of tobacco had found their way to the “humpy”; […][1908], Jeannie Gunn, chapter XXIII, in We of the Never-Never, London: Hutchinson & Co. […], page 251:
Thus, offer Brownie a piece of bread, a cup of drink, or a new coat and hood, and he flouted at it, and perhaps, in his huff, quitted the place for ever ; but leave a nice bowl of cream, and some fresh honeycomb, in a snug private corner, and they soon disappeared, though Brownie, it was to be supposed, never knew any thing of them.1828, Thomas Keightley, Fairy Mythology, volume II, page 169:
"Oh, auntie, do you know what Stine says?" cried a little brown-eyed beauty; "she says I shall go with her into the hayloft to-night and give the brownie his Christmas porridge."1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 5:
3 more examples
Stories were told of a brownie riding horseback to fetch the midwife at childbirth or helping his master to win at checkers.1985, The Encyclopedia Americana, volume 1, page 636:
There are no brownies in my house, though. I know because there's always a pile of dishes in the sink.2004, Justin Hocking, Jeffrey Knutson, Jared Jacang Maher, editors, Life and Limb: Skateboarders Write from the Deep End, page 37:
Pseudunus and his group looked around, frightened, and realized that three more treents surrounded them, accompanied by a myriad of other creatures. Centaurs, elves, humans, satyrs, halflings, mémechares and brounies surrounded them on all sides, except the one they had come from. Bears and wolves, clearly under the effect of natural magic spells, gritted their teeth and growled menacingly, while snakes hissed in defiance.2018 May 26, Joel Puga, “Chapter 6 Faiths”, in The Godungava, Joel Puga:
4
A copper coin, brown in colour; a penny, halfpenny, or cent.
He rose and jingled in his pockets for change and drew out two brownies. He went and set one on each of Monroe’s eyes[.]1997, Charles Frazier, chapter 2, in Cold Mountain, London: Hodder and Stoughton, page 36:
5
Lifestyle, Paganism, Religion A household spirit or revered ancestor.
6
Any of various lycaenid butterflies of the Eurasian genus Miletus.
Informal A widow rockfish (Sebastes entomelas), a fish in the family Sebastidae.
Depending upon the species, fishers may harvest along the ocean floor for many rockfish and other groundfish, while hake, pollock, and some rockfish species (i.e. greenies and brownies) are targeted with mid-water trawls.2007, R. Quentin Grafton, Harry W. Nelson, Bruce Turris, “How to Resolve the Class II Common Property Problem? The Case of British Columbia's Multi-Species Groundfish Trawl Fishery”, in Trond Bjørndal, Daniel V. Gordon, Ragnar Arnason, U. Rashid Sumaila, editors, Advances in Fisheries Economics: Festschrift in Honour of Professor Gordon R. Munro, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, →ISBN, page 61:
9
Alternative letter-case form of Brownie (“a girl in the first level of Girl Guides (US: Girl Scouts)”).
Etymology 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").
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.
The ideal Brownie pack, according to the 1960 Guide Commissioner′s Handbook, would contain Brownies who were ‘alert, clean, tidy and punctual. Their uniform should be correct.’1997, Doug Owram, Born at the Right Time: A History of the Baby-Boom Generation, page 102:
1 more example
Another Guide group that persevered through internment was the 1st Chefoo (which had Brownies, Guides and Rangers) in Shandong province, China.[…]The November 2, 1942, entry in the Brownie logbook pleads for cheerfulness in the face of adversity: “We are in need of smiles. Have you got them ready, Brownies?”2009, Tammy M. Proctor, Scouting for Girls: A Century of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, page 85:
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!”
Most marchers were children, Girl and Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Brownies. One Cub Scout pulled his sister in a Radio Flyer decorated with small American flags. A Brownie pushed a baby carriage crammed with a zoo of stuffed animals.1997, Samuel F. Pickering, “The Blue Caterpillar”, in The Blue Caterpillar and Other Essays, page 63:
1 more example
After all, the meetings were held at my own house and my own mother was the queen. Doesn′t that make me some sort of Brownie princess? Apparently not. As we graduated from Brownies to Girl Scouts, Mom was again my leader.2011, Kim Perone, Vacuum Like No One Is Watching, page 15: