Brown hair
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Brunette redirects here. For other uses, see Brunette (disambiguation).
Brown hair is characterised by very high 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.
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 dark-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 brown hair. It describes a woman or girl having dark or relatively dark 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. Some people use the word brunet(te) to simply refer to having brown hair. Women with lighter shades of brown hair may actually be referred to as "light brunettes". For genetic reasons, a brunette often has dark eyes with a relatively dark or olive complexion, but can also be light skinned with light eyes. A very light shade of brown may actually be referred to as "blond(e)". Also, a light or pale yellowish brown is considered blond and what is considered "light brown" can sometimes be considered "blond (e)".
Although most people with brown hair have brown eyes, it is common for someone who was blond as a toddler to have their hair color darken, but the eyes to remain blue or green.
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. Brown hair can be found in humans and certain breeds of dogs and cats, among other mammalian species.
