brownie

brownie
/brow"nee/, n.
1. a tiny, fanciful, good-natured brown elf who secretly helps at night with household chores.
2. a small, chewy, cakelike cookie, usually made with chocolate and containing nuts.
3. Australian. a bread with currants, baked in a camp oven.
4. (sometimes cap.) a member of the junior division of the Girl Scouts or the Girl Guides, being a girl in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade and usually between 6 and 8 years old.
[1505-15; BROWN + -IE; in folkloric sense, orig. Scots]
Syn. 1. See fairy.

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▪ English folklore
      in English and Scottish folklore, a small, industrious fairy or hobgoblin believed to inhabit houses and barns. Rarely seen, he was often heard at night, cleaning and doing housework; he also sometimes mischievously disarranged rooms. He would ride for the midwife, and in Cornwall he caused swarming bees to settle quickly. Cream or bread and milk might be left for him, but other gifts offended him. If one made him a suit of clothes, he would put it on and then vanish, never to return.

      The boggart of Yorkshire and the bogle of Scotland are hostile, mischievous brownies indistinguishable from poltergeists. See also puck.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Brownie — may refer to:* Brownie (mythology), a type of fairy, elf or tomte * The Brownies , a series of books by Palmer Cox featuring the mythical creatures * Brownie (Girl Guides), junior Boy/Girl Guide or junior Boy/Girl Scout * Brownie (camera), a… …   Wikipedia

  • Brownie — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Brownies. Un brownie (literalmente ‘marroncito’), también conocido como brownie de chocolate, es un pastel de chocolate pequeño y sabroso, parecido a una galleta, típico de la cocina estadounidense. Se llama así por… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Brownie — ► NOUN (pl. Brownies) 1) (Brit. also Brownie Guide) a member of the junior branch of the Guides Association. 2) (brownie) a small square of rich chocolate cake. 3) (brownie) a benevolent elf supposedly doing housework secretly. ● …   English terms dictionary

  • Brownie — UK [ˈbraʊnɪ] / US or Brownie Guide UK / US noun [countable] Word forms Brownie : singular Brownie plural Brownies a member of the brownies …   English dictionary

  • brownie — [ broni ] n. m. • 1993; mot anglais, de brown « brun » ♦ Biscuit moelleux au chocolat et aux noix de pécan, qui se sert découpé en carrés. ● brownie nom masculin (anglais brown, brun) Petit gâteau traditionnel d Amérique du Nord composé d un… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • brownie — benevolent goblin supposed to haunt old farmhouses in Scotland, 1510s, dim. of brown a wee brown man (see BROWN (Cf. brown)). The name for the junior branch of the Girl Guides or Girl Scouts is 1916, in ref. to uniform color. Brownie point (1963) …   Etymology dictionary

  • Brownie — n 1.) the Brownies the part of the Girl Guides Association that is for younger girls 2.) also Brownie .Guide a member of this organization …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • brownie — [broun′ē] n. 1. Folklore a small brown elf or goblin that does helpful tasks for people at night 2. [B ] a member of the division of the Girl Scouts for girls six to eight years of age: in full Brownie Girl Scout ☆ 3. a small bar or square of a… …   English World dictionary

  • Brownie — Brown ie, n. [So called from its supposed tawny or swarthy color.] An imaginary good natured spirit, who was supposed often to perform important services around the house by night, such as thrashing, churning, sweeping. [Scot.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Brownie — (spr. Brauni), Hausgeist an den Küsten von u. den Inseln um Schottland, der in den Haushaltungen fleißiger Leute sich hülfreich u. segnend, bei faulen aber neckisch u. schreckend äußert. Dargestellt wird er als ein stämmiger Bursch mit langem… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Brownie — (engl., spr. braunĭ, »Braunchen«), nach dem Volksglauben in Schottland eine Art Kobold oder Hausgeist, der unter der Türschwelle seine Wohnung hat. Gibt man ihm gute Worte, so sorgt er für Reinlichkeit, hilft buttern und dreschen, sagt kommende… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

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