▪ I. brow, n.1
(braʊ)
Forms: 1 br{uacu} (pl. br{uacu}a), 2 bruw(e, 3 brouwe, brou, bruu, 3–4 brue, 4 brwe, brewe, 4–7 browe, 5 brouȝ, broue, 5– brow.
[OE. br{uacu} fem., inflected on the type of an OTeut. brûâ- str. fem., but prob. only an OE. accession to the â- declension of a WGer. or primitive OE. br{uacu} of the type of c{uacu}, s{uacu}:—OTeut. *brû-s (= Skr. bhrū-s eye-brow, Gr. ὀϕρύ-ς). The original sense appears to have been ‘eye-brow’, but it must have been extended at an early date from the hair over the eyes to that on the eye-lids, the ‘eye-lashes’, for this was the normal sense in OE., the eye-brows being distinguished as ofer-br{uacu}a i.e. over-eye-lashes, or otherwise contextually. From the eye-lashes, the name appears to have been transferred step by step to the eye-lids, the eye-brows, the prominences of the forehead, and finally to the forehead as a whole. See also bree n.1, and cf. beetle-browed.
ON. br{uacu} fem. ‘bridge’ was perhaps the same word, with a transferred sense; but the ON. word actually used for ‘eye-brow’ was br{uacu}n, pl. br{yacu}nn, conjectured to be a secondary form from brû- founded on the gen. pl. br{uacu}-na. (Cf. mod.G. braune brow, founded on the pl. braun, brauen, MHG. brâwen, pl. of brâwe.) In the other Teutonic langs. *brû- is lost, and its place supplied by *bræ̂wâ-; thus OHG. brâwa eye-lashes, obarun brâwa, ubar-brâwa, eye-brows, mod.G. augen-braue, -braune (see above) eye-brow, wimper, MHG. wintbrâwe eye-lash, Du. wenkbraauw eye-brow, all of which belong to OTeut. *bræ̂wâ-, WGer. brâw, OE. brǽw; see bree. (It appears then that the Eng. brow and Ger. braue, Du. braauw are not even cognate.)]
† 1. The fringe of hair along the eye-lid, the eye-lash, L. cilium. Only in OE.
| a 1000 Riddles xli. 100 (Gr.) Ne ic breaᵹa ne bruna brucan moste. c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 156 Cilia, brua. Ibid. 290 Cilium, bruwa. |
† 2. The eye-lid, L.
palpebra. Usually
pl. Obs. (Some of the quotations are not certain.)
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 213 At drinche..þere beð..winrede bruwes. c 1205 Lay. 22283 [Hi] heouen up heore bruwen. c 1275 ― 18374 Þa heng he his brouwes [c 1205 breowen] adun. a 1300 E.E. Psalter x[i]. 5 His brwes [palpebræ] askes mennes sones. Ibid. cxxxi[i]. 4 If I gif to min eghen slapinge, And to mi browes [palpebris] napping. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 817 His browes heldes doun wyth-alle. a 1500 Med. Receipts in Rel. Ant. I. 54 Qwen his broues hildes doune. |
3. a. ‘The arch of hair over the eye’ (J.). Usually
pl. In later use including the super-orbital ridge, and especially the skin, on which the hair grows. Now usually eye-brow.
to knit, bend one's brows: to frown.
| [c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 156 Supercilia, oferbrua. ― Ags. Voc. ibid. 290 Intercilium [cf. Gr. µεσόϕρυον] betweoh bruwum.] a 1300 Cursor M. 8079 Lang and side þair brues wern And hinged all a-bout þair hern. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. ix. (1495) 114 The browes ben callyd supercilia the ouer lyddes for they ben sette aboue the eye lyddes..The browes ben closyd with moche heere. c 1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 261 His browes was like litel buskes. 1575 J. Still Gamm. Gurton v. ii, I am as true..as skin betwene thy browes. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. ii. 3 Why doth the Great Duke Humfrey knit his browes? 1601 Cornwallyes Ess. xx, We will pull our browes, and indure any paine to imitate the fashion. 1619 R. West Bk. Demeanor 29 in Babees Bk. 292 Let not thy browes be backward drawn, it is a signe of pride, Exalt them not, it shewes a hart most arrogant beside. 1715 Pope Ep. Miss T. Blount 49 Vex'd to be still in town, I knit my brow. 1830 Tennyson Madeline iii, O'er black brows drops down A sudden-curved frown. 1832 ― Œnone 74 The charm of married brows. |
b. In the same sense as 5 b.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14747 To blaken þan bigan þair brous [v.r. bruus, brewes]. |
See
black v. 1 for other instances.
4. a. pl. The prominences of the forehead on either side above the eyes. Now poetically
= next sense.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. i. 392 Helpe! hold his browes. 1601 ― Jul. C. v. iii. 82 Did not they Put on my Browes this wreath of Victorie? 1697 Dryden Virg. Eclog. vi. 35 ægle..His Brows with Berries, and his Temples dies. a 1725 Pope Iliad xi. 53 Last o'er his brows his fourfold helm he placed. 1822 W. Irving Braceb. Hall xxvi. 235 The officer..placed it [a wreath] upon the blushing brows of his mistress. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxxxvi. 8 Fan my brows and blow The fever from my cheek. |
| fig. 1595 Shakes. John ii. i. 38 Our Cannon shall be bent Against the browes of this resisting towne. |
† b. ? Part of a wig covering the brows.
Obs.| c 1485 Digby Myst., Mor. Wisd. i. heading, Vpon his hed a cheveler with browes. |
5. a. The whole part of the face above the eyes, the forehead. (L.
frons.)
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 289 With mony wound..In breist, in brow, in bak. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 339 She kissed his brow, his cheek, his chin. 1611 Bible Isa. xlviii. 4 Thy necke is an yron sinew, and thy brow brasse. 1742 Pope Dunciad iv. 141 His beaver'd brow a birchen garland wears. 1789 Burns John Anderson i, Your bonie brow was brent. 1872 Ruskin Eagle's Nest §156 The essential point in an eagle's head—the projection of the brow. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion i. i. 21 And strong, though troubled, is her breadth of brow. |
| fig. 1595 Shakes. John v. vi. 17 Heere walke I, in the black brow of night. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 185 The sky has settled down again in frowning gloom. A black and threatening brow it wears. |
b. esp. as the seat of the facial expressions of joy, sorrow, shame, anxiety, resolution, etc.
poetic.
| 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 749 To cloak offences with a cunning brow. 1596 ― Merch. V. iii. ii. 78 What damned error, but some sober brow will blesse it. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 886 To whom thus Satan with contemptuous brow. 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 315 War in each breast, and freedom on each brow. 1802 Wordsw. Sonn. T. l'Ouverture, Wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. ii. 178 Joy like thy bride's, should on thy brow have sate. 1817 Byron Manfred ii. ii. 25 Thy calm clear brow Wherein is glass'd serenity of soul. 1843 Macaulay Virginia 17 That brow of hate, that mouth of scorn. |
c. fig. Fronting aspect, countenance.
Cf. forehead,
front,
face.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. iii. 83 By this Face, This seeming Brow of Iustice did he winne the hearts of all. 1646 Buck Rich. III, 78 His patience is deepe hypocrisie..and his friendship meerely a Court brow. 1694 Strype Cranmer iii. viii. 330 A Book writ with a Brow of Brass, so did it abound with confident Untruths. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. x, The old man, who had in his early youth resisted the brow of military and civil tyranny. |
† d. fig. An unabashed brow; confidence, effrontery;
cf. ‘cheek’, ‘face’ in slang use.
Obs.| 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. iv. xi. 290 Men of more brow then brain. a 1646 J. Gregory Posthuma (1649) 88 Learned men I confess, but of a strange brow, to pretend, etc. 1680 Burnet Rochester 172 But they have not Brow enough to say it. 1720 Ozell Vertot's Rom. Rep. I. ii. 137 With what Brow can I..ask him? |
† e. Specious look or appearance.
Obs.| 1659 J. Harrington Lawgiving iii. iii. (1700) 454 Whether the threaten'd Punishments..tho thro unacquaintance they may at first sight have som brow, would not..expire in scorn. |
f. Sc. to have no brow (broo) of: not to like the look of, not to be favourably impressed by.
| 1816 Scott Old Mort. vii, ‘Thir ridings and wappen-schawings..I hae nae broo o' them ava—I can find nae warrant for them.’ 1818 ― Hrt. Midl. xxv, ‘I had never muckle broo o' my gudeman's gossips.’ 1823 Galt Entail III. iii. 41 I hae nae brow o' sic worldly hypocrisy. 1887 Chr. Leader 24 Feb. 114/3 ‘Man’, said the fisherman, ‘I hae nae brew o' thae English banks ava.’ |
g. [
= the second element in
highbrow, low-brow, etc.]
colloq. Level of intellectual attainment or interest. Also
attrib.| 1923 J. Agate in Sunday Times 9 Sept. 4/2 There is nothing quite so abysmally boring in the theatre as your author who has got no brow at all. 1931 H. G. Wells Work, Wealth & Happiness (1932) 20 That final title..had to present a candid attractive brow to the world, broad rather than high. 1954 F. Cornford Epitaph for Reviewer in Coll. Poems 112, I hope to meet my Maker brow to brow And find my own the higher. 1959 Guardian 19 Dec. 4/4 The only differences worth noting among playwrights are their brow-levels. |
6. a. The projecting edge of a cliff or hill, standing over a precipice or steep. (Arising out of sense 3: though now sometimes associated with sense 5.)
| c 1435 Torr. Portugal 655 Bacward than be a browȝ, Twenty fote he garde hyme goo. 1604 Shakes. Oth. ii. i. 53 On the brow o' th' Sea Stand rankes of People. 1611 Bible Luke iv. 29, & led him vnto the brow [marg. edge] of the hill..that they might cast him downe headlong. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 159 The wary Ploughman, on the Mountain's Brow, Undams his watry Stores. a 1725 Pope Odyss. v. 614 The Wood, Whose shady horrors on a rising brow Wav'd high. 1795 Southey Joan of Arc. i. 286 If a traveller Appear'd at distance coming o'er the brow. 1872 Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lakes (1879) 200 The path..runs along the brow of the cliff to the summit. |
b. north. dial. A slope, an acclivity, an ascent;
= Sc. brae. E.g.
Everton Brow,
Shaw's Brow, two steep streets in Liverpool.
| 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. 38 He scrambled up..a sandy brow. |
† 7. A projecting edge (of a pillar, wall, etc.); a ledge; a verge. ?
Obs.| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 595 The brows of pillars and wals, to cast off rain. 1641 Milton Reform. i. Wks. 1847 6/1 The Table of Communion, now become a Table of Separation, stands like an exalted platform upon the brow of the Quire, fortify'd with bulwark and barricado. |
8. Coal-Mining. A gallery in a coal-mine running across the face of the coal.
9. ellipt. Brow-antler (see next).
| 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. ii. 62 You may know..what his rights mean, if he has them, brow, bay, tray and points. |
10. Comb., as
brow-bone,
brow-pendant;
brow-bound,
brow-sick,
brow-wreathed adjs. etc.;
brow-ague, ‘strictly supra-orbital neuralgia of malarious origin; now used as synonymous with
Hemicrania or
Megrim’ (
Syd. Soc. Lex.);
brow-antler, the lowest tine of the horn of a stag, the ‘antler’ in its original sense;
brow-band, a band worn across the brow;
spec. the band of a bridle, etc., which passes in front of a horse's forehead;
† brow-bending, frowning;
brow-bent a., with bent brows, frowning (see 3);
† brow-lid, an eye-lid;
† brow-piece (
Arch.), a beam over a door, a breastsummer;
brow-point,
= brow-antler;
brow-post (
Arch.), see
quot.;
brow-ridge, a superciliary ridge;
brow-snag,
-tine = brow-antler;
brow-spot, the interocular gland of a frog or toad;
brow-stone (
cf. brow-post). See also
browbeat, etc.
| 1855 Holden Hum. Osteol (1878) 65 It is this nerve which is affected in ‘*brow ague’. |
| 1647 W. Browne Polex. i. 239 With two thrusts of his *brow-ancklers, he was layd flat on the sand. 1596 P. Colse Penelope (1880) 169 Brow-antlers with her Ile exchange. 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xiv. (1660) 168 Skilfull Woodmen..do call the Lowest Antlier the Brow Antelier. 1864 Derby Mercury 14 Dec., Curious articles made from the brow antler of a stag's horn. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 620 Brass or plated buckles and *brow-bands..serve only to load and cover the horses when at work. 1958 J. Hislop From Start to Finish 167 Browband: Usually called forehead-piece in racing stables; the piece of the bridle which goes round the horse's forehead, below the ears. |
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 17 b, With matrimonie commeth..the soure *browbendyng of your wiffes kinsfolkes. |
| 1796 Coleridge To Yng. Friend 28 His muse's witching charm Muttering *brow-bent. |
| c 1450 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 675 Hoc supercilium, a *browbone. |
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 102 He..for his meed Was *Brow-bound with the Oake. 1832 Tennyson Dream Fair Women 128 A queen..Brow-bound with burning gold. |
| 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. 77 One eyelid or *browlidde. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Contrefrontail, the *brow⁓peece, or vpmost post of a dore. |
| 1877 A. B. Edwards Up Nile xix. 545 The bride..wears a gold *brow-pendant and nose-ring. |
| 1884 Jefferies Red Deer iv. 75 The stag..with a blow of the formidable *brow-point, ripped the hound open. |
| 1706 Phillips, *Brow-post, (among Carpenters) an over⁓thwart, or cross-Beam. |
| 1898 Guide Mammalia Brit. Mus. 15 Enormous *brow-ridges give them a ferocious and savage appearance. 1927 Peake & Fleure Hunters & Artists 60 The great frontal torus or overgrown brow-ridges of Neanderthal Man. 1964 G. B. Schaller Year of Gorilla (1965) vi. 135 The gorillas..looked thoroughly miserable with the water dripping off their brow ridges. |
| a 1641 Suckling Prol. Authors (R.) A gracious influence from you May alter nature in our *brow⁓sick crew. |
| 1875 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. xiii. 187 The *browspot or inter-ocular gland. |
| 1761 Lond. Mag. XXX. 17 The laying of the kennels without *brow-stones. |
| 1880 Geol. Mag. 450 Distinguished..by the presence of a *brow-tyne close to the burr. |
▪ II. brow, n.2 Naut. (
braʊ)
[app. a. Da. or Sw. bru, ON. br{uacu} bridge.] (See
quot.)
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Brow, an inclined plane of planks, on one or both sides of a ship, to communicate internally; a stage-gangway for the accomodation of the shipwrights, in conveying plank, timber, and weighty articles on board... An old term for a gang-board. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket-bk. vii. (ed. 2) 272 Plank..to form a brow to the shore. 1882 Standard 20 Oct. 6/1 The horses were..walked from deck to deck by ‘brows’..and from the deck to the wharf down a third ‘brow’. |
▪ III. brow, v. rare.
[f. brow n.1] 1. trans. To form a brow to, be on the brow of.
| 1634 Milton Comus 532 The hilly crofts That brow this bottom glade. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xxii, The woods that browed the hill. 1834 J. Hodgson in J. Raine Mem. (1858) II. 357 Browed and hemmed with old brushwood and young plantations. |
2. To face, browbeat.
Sc.| 1822 Hogg Perils of Man I. 21 (Jam.) I wad rather brow a' the Ha's and the Howards afore I beardit you. Ibid. 61 Stepping forward and browing the last speaker face to face. |
▪ IV. brow obs. f. of
brew.