Brownie
/ˈbraʊni/noun
A small, mystical household sprite in Scottish and northern English folklore, or a chocolate dessert.
Did you know?In Scottish folklore, a brownie was a helpful domestic spirit who did chores secretly, and the word’s modern dessert sense is much later than the creature-name.
Etymological Timeline
Old English
OE
brūn
“brown; dark, dusky”
Middle English
ME
brownie
“a brown-colored thing or person; later a brownie sprite”
16th–17th Century
Scots
brouny
“a household spirit, usually imagined as brown or dark”
18th Century
English
brownie
“a small fairy or helpful goblin in folklore”
19th Century
English
brownie
“a small chocolate cake or dessert”
Modern English
English
brownie
“either the folklore sprite or the chocolate confection”