Brown hair

"Brunette" redirects here. For other uses, see Brunette (disambiguation).

A woman with brown hair

Brown hair is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment phaeomelanin. Its strands are thicker than those of fair hair but not as much as those of red hair.
 

Overview

Brunette is the feminine of French brunet, which is a diminutive of brun, brune, meaning brown or dark-haired, ultimately from Latin brunus (brown). It therefore means "little brown-haired girl", but in English usage it has largely lost the diminutive meaning, and simply refers to any dark-haired girl or woman (which is simply brune in French). Brunette in common usage refers to dark brown or black hair, but especially dark to medium brown hair. It describes a woman or girl having dark or relatively dark hair. Although, girls or women with black hair appear to be more often referred to as black or dark-haired (sometimes "raven-haired") rather than brunette. Brunette is also sometimes used to refer to dark or brown hair. Some people disagree over whether light brown or black hair counts as brunette, though the use of the term to cover a wide range of non-blond(e) and non-red shades of hair is fairly widespread. The term brunette is usually used to refer to brown or dark brown hair, rather than black hair. There is some debate as to whether simply brown or lighter shades of brown hair are really brunette, or if one must have dark brown or dark brown/or black hair to be considered a brunette. Shampoo that is designed specifically for brunette hair say either for shades of brown hair or lighter/or darker shades of brown/brunette hair. Some people use the word brunet(te) to simply refer to having brown hair. Girls or women with lighter shades of brown hair may actually be referred to as "light brunettes". A brunette can have dark eyes with a relatively dark or olive complexion, however, people from European countries often have pale skin and light eye color. A very light shade of brown may actually be referred to as "dark blond(e)". Also, a light or pale yellowish brown is considered blond and what is considered "light brown" can sometimes be considered "blond(e)". Some people suggest that light brown hair may really be blond, because blond is supposed to refer to having light hair, with the idea that light brown hair fits into that range.

Only the feminine form has become part of English: brunet (with a silent t) would theoretically refer to a dark-haired boy or man but is virtually never used in practice, nor in French, although "Brunet" is a common surname. A boy or man is often referred to as dark-haired, rather than as a brunet. Brunet is sometimes used to refer to either sex. Both spellings refer usually to females, although brunette is the usual generic spelling, especially for the noun.

See also

• Human skin color
• Melanin
• Pigment
• Skin
• Moreno