# brow

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɹaʊ/ · frequency rank #13,874

## Definitions
1. The bony ridge over the eyes, upon which the eyebrows are located.
2. The eyebrow.
3. The forehead.
4. Aspect; appearance; facial expression.
5. The projecting upper edge of a steep place such as a hill.
6. The first tine of an antler's beam.
7. A gallery in a coal mine running across the face of the coal.
8. The gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay.
9. The hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp.

## Etymology
From Middle English browe, from Old English brū, from Proto-West Germanic *brāwu, from Proto-Germanic *brūwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“brow”).
Cognate with Scots broo (“brow”), Dutch brauw (“brow”), German Braue (“eyebrow”), Danish, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish bryn (“brow”), Faroese, Icelandic brún (“brow”). See also Middle Irish brúad, Tocharian B pärwāne (“eyebrows”), Lithuanian bruvi̇̀s, Serbo-Croatian obrva (“eyebrow”), Russian бровь (brovʹ, “brow”), Ancient Greek ὀφρύς (ophrús, “eyebrow”), Sanskrit भ्रू (bhrū, “eyebrow”)), Persian ابرو (abru, “eyebrow”), Khowar بروُ (bruú, “eyebrow”).

## Easily confused with
- **BW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-bw)
- **BTW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-btw)
- **bru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-bru)
- **bruh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-bruh)
- **buoy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-buoy)
- **Bryn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-bryn)
- **bruv** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-bruv)
- **brut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-brut)
- **brown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-brown)
- **Byron** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-byron)
- **brows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-brows)
- **browse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-browse)
- **burrow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-burrow)
- **bo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bo-vs-brow)
- **br** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/br-vs-brow)
- **boy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/boy-vs-brow)
- **box** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/box-vs-brow)
- **bob** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bob-vs-brow)
- **bro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bro-vs-brow)
- **bow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bow-vs-brow)

## Common misspellings (6)
`bbrow`, `borw`, `broww`, `brrow`, `brwo`, `rbow`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/brow