Brown hair is characterised by high levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment phaeomelanin. It is thicker than fair hair but not as much as red hair.

Brunette is the feminine of French brunet, which is a diminutive of brun, brune, meaning brown or dark-haired, ultimately from Latin BRVNVS (brown). It therefore means "little dark-haired girl", but in English usage it has largely lost the diminutive meaning, and simply refers to any dark-haired girl or woman (which is simply brune in French). Brunette in common usage refers to dark brown or black hair, especially dark brown hair. It describes a woman or girl having dark or relatively dark hair. Some people disagree over whether black or light brown hair counts as brunette, though the use of the term to cover a wide range of non-blonde and non-red shades of hair is fairly widespread. Women with lighter shades of brown hair may actually be referred to as "light brunettes". Brunette generally refers to white people rather than those from races that virtually always have dark hair.

Only the feminine form has become part of English: brunet (with a silent t) would theoretically refer to a dark-haired boy or man but is virtually never used in practice, nor in French, although "Brunet" is a common surname.

For genetic reasons, a brunette will usually have darker-coloured eyes and a relatively dark or olive complexion.

See also

• blonde
• red hair
• pigment
• skin
• human skin colour
• hair colour
• melanin