Brunette

Brunette is the feminine of French brunet, which is a diminutive of brun, brune, meaning brown or dark haired, ultimately from Latin BRVNVS (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, especially dark brown hair. People disagree over whether black or light brown hair counts as brunette. Brunette can probably also refer to lighter shades of brown hair, but isn't as associated with brunette. Women with lighter shades of brown hair may actually be referred to as "light brunettes".

Only the feminine form has become part of English: "brunet" (with a silent t) theoretically refers to a dark-haired boy or man, but is virtually never used in practice, nor in French, although "Brunet" is a common surname.

For genetic reasons, a brunette will usually have dark-coloured eyes and a relatively dark or olive complexion.

Brown and black hair is characterised by high levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment phaeomelanin . It is thicker than fair hair but not as much as red hair.

See also

• blonde
• red hair
• pigment
• skin
• human skin colour
• hair colour
• melanin