nut-brownadj.n.

a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 18846 (MED) Berd and hefd of a heu ware, Nute brun [a1400 Fairf. note broun, a1400 Gött. Nutte brun] als i tald yow are.

1575 G. Gascoigne Hearbes in Wks. (1587) I. 356 A louely nutbrowne face is best of all.

1595 R. Parry Moderatus xv. sig. S3 Her nut-browne haire hanging about her shoulders made her beautifull visage..farre more amiable.

1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada ii. Prol. 71 Every man who thinks himself a Wit..With his white Wigg sets off his Nut-brown Face.

1723 London Gaz. No. 6154/4 One Nut-brown Mare.

1767 ‘A. Barton’ Disappointment ii. i. 34 She is so charming sweet and fair, Her rosy cheeks and nut brown hair.

1823 Ld. Byron Island ii. vii. 25 The sun-born blood..threw O'er her clear nut-brown skin a lucid hue.

a1835 Young Johnstone (Motherwell) xxiv, in F. J. Child Eng. & Sc. Pop. Ballads (1886) II. iv. 293/2 ‘Nut-brown was his hawk,’ they said, ‘And yellow-fit was his hound.’

a1855 C. Brontë Professor (1857) I. ix. 152 Her hair was nut-brown.

1900 J. Conrad Lord Jim xxv. 274 She had a round, nut-brown, soft face.

1951 S. H. Bell December Bride ii. xiv. 157 Speeding down Knocknadreemally towards her..came a sulky, drawn by a nutbrown high-stepping pony with yellow bandaged fetlocks.

1992 Matrix Summer 21/1 She's a slim, compact woman, her skin nut-brown and flawless.

c1503 Nutbrown Maid in R. Arnold Chron. f. lxxv^v Shal neyer be sayd the Nutbrowne mayd was to her loue vnkind.

1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 43^v If she be well sette, then call hir a Bosse,..if Nutbrowne, as blacke as a coale.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Fille The nut-browne lasse for mirth and neatnesse doth surpasse.

a1640 P. Massinger Guardian i. i. 345 in 3 New Playes (1655) My Tenants Nutbrown daughters, wholsom Girls.

1728 A. Pope Dunciad ii. 299 Shown him by the nutbrown maids A branch of Styx here rises from the Shades.

1770 E. Thompson Court of Cupid II. 4 With her gay Adonis plac'd In a soft attitude of love, and joy, And fine the contrast of the nut-brown Boy.

1820 W. Scott Monastery II. ii^*. 70 The attention which was paid to every word that he uttered by the nut-brown Mysie.

1895 Daily News 20 Mar. 7/1 For the nut-brown maids, who strike the happy medium between dark and fair, there is a large choice of gentle tints.

1962 D. Lessing Golden Notebk. (1974) iii. 373 She was in type similar to Marion: another nut-brown maid, tending to a glossy and lively untidiness.

1989 K. Miller Authors (BNC) 60 A nut-brown man by South Kensington standards, he is light-skinned in the West Indies.

1575 W. Stevenson Gammer Gurtons Nedle ii. sig. B^v I loue no rost, but a nut browne toste and a Crab layde in the fyre.

1602 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) iv. xx. 96 Nor lacks he gleefull tales, whil'st round the nut-brown Bole doth trot.

1608 T. Dekker Belman of London sig. B3^v Nut-browne round trenchers lay in good order.

a1668 W. Davenant News from Plimouth iii, in Wks. (1673) 14/2 Good Nutbrowne-Ale, and Tost.

1708 W. King Art of Cookery 6 A Prince..Quenches his Thirst with Ale in Nut-Brown Bowls.

1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 221 Low lies that house where nut-brown draughts inspir'd.

1831 J. Brown Let. 26 Oct. (1912) 23 There is plenty of home-brewed ‘Nutbrown’ ale.

1892 A. Austin Fortunatus Pessimist ii. iii. 104 When your loaves Turn nut-brown in the baking.

1900 Daily News 1 Sept. 6/7 A nut-brown cloth dress..has a petticoat of nut-brown moirette to match it.

1952–7 S. J. Perelman Road to Miltown (1957) 12 In fancy you are in England, peradventure at some transpontine hostel with a goodly company, quaffing the nut-brown October ale.

a1978 S. T. Warner One Thing leading to Another (1985) 38 The scenes were painted in shades of green and sepia; their bases and surrounds were nut brown.

1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. N7^v The nutbrowne collour of seller ale in a frostie morning.

1594 Knacke to knowe Knaue sig. D2^v Ile tel the king the maid is fair, Of nut browne cullour, comelie and fair spoken.

1630 Tincker of Turvey iv. 35 His haire in curled lockes hung downe, And well I wot the colour was nut browne.

1742 H. Fielding Joseph Andrews I. i. viii His Hair was of a nut-brown Colour. View more context for this quotation

1781 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 71 164 The jaws..being as hard as a crab's claw, and placed in a strong horny head, which is of a nut-brown colour.

1820 W. Scott Monastery II. v. 166 Upon whose complexion the ‘skyey influences’..had blended the red and white into the purely nut-brown hue.

1893 Science 3 Feb. 59/1 It [sc. a sea-cow] was of a nut-brown color and covered with hair.

1994 Runner's World Feb. 33/2 (advt.) A superior technique..that exposes oak to ammonia fumes for a rich, nut-brown color.

1800 E. Hervey Mourtray Family I. 228 Well, and what of that, my pretty nut-brown?

1834 Sydney Herald 20 Oct. 2/4 The spoiled innocents of the Government gangs, y'clept by Humanitas the ‘Nut-brown faces’.]

1835 Sydney Times 13 Jan. 3/1 The learned Editors seem to think that from this authentic account of the ‘convict system’, the ‘nut browns’ have not such a pleasant time of it.

1840 Sydney Herald 17 Feb. 2/2 Captain Maconochie has applied to the Government to be allowed a band of musicians to accompany him to Norfolk Island to entertain the gentlemen ‘nutbrowns’ there.