brownie

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a junior Girl Scout
  2. noun (folklore) fairies that are somewhat mischievous
  3. noun square or bar of very rich chocolate cake usually with nuts

Etymology

From brown + -ie (diminutive suffix). In folkloric sense, originally Scots. For sense 7, compare with Dutch kabouter (“a very young female member of the scout movement”) (literally "gnome").

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