Brownie

From brownie (“helpful elf”). Specifically, inspired by the story "The Brownies" by Juliana Horatia Ewing (published in 1870, The Brownies and Other Tales), in which two children, Tommy and Betty, learn that children can be helpful brownies or lazy boggarts.

• (General American, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɹaʊni/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aʊni
• Hyphenation: Brown‧ie

Brownie (plural Brownies)

1. (British, Canada, Australia) A junior Girl Guide.
   • 1958 July 14, Boot by a Brash Brownie, LIFE, page 124,

     In Toronto young Brownies of the Girl Guides, the Canadian girl scouts, stood in parade formation with full-fledged Guides.

   • 1997, Doug Owram, Born at the Right Time: A History of the Baby-Boom Generation, page 102:

     The ideal Brownie pack, according to the 1960 Guide Commissioner′s Handbook, would contain Brownies who were ‘alert, clean, tidy and punctual. Their uniform should be correct.’

   • 2009, Tammy M. Proctor, Scouting for Girls: A Century of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, page 85:

     Another Guide group that persevered through internment was the 1st Chefoo (which had Brownies, Guides and Rangers) in Shandong province, China. […] The November 2, 1942, entry in the Brownie logbook pleads for cheerfulness in the face of adversity: “We are in need of smiles. Have you got them ready, Brownies?”

2. (US) A junior Girl Scout.
   • 1952 March 24, Girl Scouts: They Are Observing Their 40th Birthday, LIFE, page 109,

     Any girl willing to follow the simple rules can join the Girl Scouts. As Brownies they will spend most of their time playing games and singing songs like the Brownie Smile Song: “I′ve something in my pocket; It belongs across my face, And I keep it very close at hand In a most convenient place.... I′m sure you couldn′t guess it If you guessed a long, long while, So I′ll take it out and put it on—It′s a great big Brownie smile!”

   • 1997, Samuel F. Pickering, “The Blue Caterpillar”, in The Blue Caterpillar and Other Essays, page 63:

     Most marchers were children, Girl and Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Brownies. One Cub Scout pulled his sister in a Radio Flyer decorated with small American flags. A Brownie pushed a baby carriage crammed with a zoo of stuffed animals.

   • 2011, Kim Perone, Vacuum Like No One Is Watching, page 15:

     After all, the meetings were held at my own house and my own mother was the queen. Doesn′t that make me some sort of Brownie princess? Apparently not.
     As we graduated from Brownies to Girl Scouts, Mom was again my leader.

• (junior Girl Guide): Rosebud (historical)

Brown +‎ -ie

Brownie

1. A nickname of the surname Brown.

Borrowed from English brownie.

• IPA^(key): [ˈbʁaʊ̯ni]

Brownie m (strong, genitive Brownies, plural Brownies)

1. brownie (small rich chocolate cake)

• “Brownie” in Duden online