brune meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

brune

adj

Etymology Borrowed from French brune.

Uncommon Brunette.

By-the-way, we haven’t yet described our favorite Nettie. We will leave details to the reader’s imagination, and only say that she was neither blonde or brune, but a dangerous mixture of both, and able to wear pink or blue with impunity, and look bewitching in either.1867 January, Daisy Ventnor [pseudonym; Jeanie Gould], “‘Only a Private’”, in Peterson’s Magazine, volume LI, number 1, Philadelphia, Pa., page 67, column 1:
When I read of Helen and Cleopatra and Lucretia, and all the beauties of old times, it was always with the notion that each one, blonde or brune, must have looked like Katie Stuart.1873, W[illiam] C[owper] Prime, “Sunday Morning and Evening”, in I Go A-Fishing, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, page 100:

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“[…] Lord Quallinghame, how do you think I should look as Cleopatra? Only fancy what gorgeous colouring you could get out of such a costume! Was Cleopatra blonde or brune, by the way? Not that it matters”—[…]1877 April 14, “Edged Tools”, in Family Herald: A Domestic Magazine of Useful Information and Amusement, volume XXXVIII, number 1773, chapter XXV, page 378, column 1:
The worker with “silken thread and needle fine,” the lover of deep rich colors, the one who adores the glowing tone of the scarlets and yellows, the golden browns and the emerald greens, the woman who can spend all the golden ducats she may wish and still have plenty left, as well as she who must think of how she can arrange so that all of last season’s stuffs can be utilized and everything look as it should, each woman, rich or poor, blonde or brune, old or young, ought surely be satisfied with the store of delights offered to her by la Mode this year. […] Seal and mode are seen well developed in a walking costume to be worn by a pretty woman, who is neither blonde or brune, but has dark brown hair, blue eyes and a clear complexion.1884 November, “Dress Materials”, in The Delineator: A Monthly Magazine, Illustrating Metropolitan Fashions, volume XXIV, number 5, London; New York, N.Y.: The Butterick Publishing Co., Limited, pages 373–374:
Not that Marie had ever starred in any such tragedy. She belonged to neither the one sort of Van Steynes nor the other. She was neither blonde nor brune. A dash of romance in her temperament was counterbalanced by a saving sense of the ridiculous, that kept her from ever quite making a fool of herself.1894 December, Calista Halsey Patchin, “Marechal Niel. Romance of a Christmas Ball.”, in The Midland Monthly, volume II, number 6, page 450, column 1:
The pose is necessarily graceful; the costume may be, and often is, so devised as to heighten the effect. Miss Morgan and Miss Boxall are as famous for this as for their playing. Whether the player be blonde or brune, the golden framework of the instrument is sure to blend; while the flashing ivory of the harpist’s arms, sweeping back and forth against the glistening strings, keeps time to the delicate harmonies woven by her fingers.1896 December, Frederic Reddall, “American Woman Harpists”, in Godey’s Magazine, volume CXXXIII, number 798, New York, N.Y.: The Godey Company, page 567, column 1:

brune

noun

Etymology Borrowed from French brune.

Uncommon A brunette.

This conclusion is dangerous in the extreme; for fashion, and the love of display are two of the most dangerous enemies to woman’s empire, By their imperious laws, the blond, and the brune, the blooming girl, the finished woman, and the widow un peu passee, are all compelled to wear the same livery, whether it be becoming or not.1828 September 22, “Female Dress”, in The Opera Glass. Devoted to the Fine Arts, Literature, and the Drama., volume I, number 3, page 18, column 1:
Yes, I like Sunshine; it’s such fun to hear her talk. And you seem to like that dark-eyed sister of hers—eh, old boy? Well, she’s a very handsome girl, I grant you, but she’s too stately for me; besides, I don’t care for your brunes; tall women haven’t, generally, much fun in them.1861, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], “Our Corps’ Friends and Foes; or, How Randolph Trapped a Sunbeam, and I Turned a Medium”, in Bentley’s Miscellany, volume XLIX, London: Chapman and Hall, […], section II (How Sunshine, Pearl, and Rosebud Shot at Bull’s-Eyes and Hit Other Marks), page 80:

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“[…] I am curious really to know how you get up the steam fresh every time; now with a duchess, and now with a dairymaid, now with a blonde, and now with a brune!” […] he passed him in the vestibule, and went on to chat with the Comtesse de Chantal, a bewitching little brune, who had confided to him the colour of her adorable rose domino, and would quickly have been recognised without any other guide than her bright marmoset eyes. […] the Princess was a brune, an olive-cheeked daughter of Sardinia, and the delicate chin of the mask, which (save the rose lips) was all he could see of his clairvoyante unknown, was white as the skin of the fairest blonde. […] A bright-eyed brune is better than a brush any day, and two good things can’t spoil one another.1865, Ouida [pseudonym; Maria Louise Ramé], Strathmore: A Romance […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, pages 40–41, 99, 103, and 201:
This most superior-looking fabric does not possess one deterrent quality. By many ladies who prefer plain to fancy materials this will be much admired, and the colourings are all of those soft undecided tones, which are so eminently becoming to either blonde or brune.1877 May 1, “Royal Poplin”, in Myra’s Journal of Dress and Needlework, volume III, number 5, London: Goubaud & Son […]:
And after all, we each one of us have personal experiences and personal preferences which bias our judgment in this respect; we love this man or that woman, and for the time we believe that just that style of beauty is the ideal we have always held. We haven’t, and by and by we shall smile at our own delusion and flatly contradict our fatuous theories; but while it lasts, and even perhaps in memory, we shall cling to the admiration of blonde or brune in general, because once in particular we loved a blonde or a brune. / Another point to be considered nowadays, however, is, what is her natural coloring? / For so many persons copy Queen Elizabeth, who had 100 wigs as well as 100 gowns, and wore whatever style of complexion she chose!1896, Mrs. Frank Leslie [i.e., Miriam Leslie], “Angels Have Blonde Hair, but There Are Many Brunettes. The Two Types of Beauty.”, in Are We All Deceivers? The Lover’s Blue Book, London; New York, N.Y.: F[rank] Tennyson Neely, page 257:
In the same lovely colour is a vine-leaf berthe mingled with copper-pink sequins; and last, though not least, is an inlaid bolero, pure white and palest green, which would be most becoming to either blonde or brune.1906, Truth, page 1278, column 1: