brown
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- 1 brown
This is the standard Thai word for brown, the color associated with things such as sugar, wood, and soil. It can name the color itself or follow a noun to describe something as brown.
brown
Refers to brown as a color in its own right.
Learning notes
Explanation
The word is formed from สี “color” and น้ำตาล “sugar.” On its own, น้ำตาล normally means “sugar,” while สีน้ำตาล is the established color name “brown.” It functions as a noun when referring to the color itself. To describe an object, it follows the noun, as in เสื้อสีน้ำตาล, “brown clothes.” Shade can be specified by adding เข้ม “dark” or อ่อน “light”: สีน้ำตาลเข้ม means “dark brown,” and สีน้ำตาลอ่อน means “light brown.”
Usage
It is commonly used to describe the color of clothing, shoes, bags, furniture, cars, and other objects, especially when shopping or discussing design. It also appears in descriptions of people and animals, such as ผมสีน้ำตาล “brown hair,” ตาสีน้ำตาล “brown eyes,” and ขนสีน้ำตาล “brown fur.”
Caution
Include สี when you clearly mean the color brown, since น้ำตาล alone normally means “sugar.” When describing an object, place สีน้ำตาล after the noun: รองเท้าสีน้ำตาล means “brown shoes.”