bräunliche

Bräunliche is an attributive form of the German adjective bräunlich, meaning brownish. It is used to describe a color that is somewhat brown and typically appears directly before a noun, for example in phrases like eine bräunliche Färbung or bräunliche Flecken. In predicative use, the base form bräunlich is normally employed, as in Der Stoff ist bräunlich.

The term can describe a range of brownish tones, from pale to dark, and is common in everyday language as well as in scientific or descriptive writing. In scientific contexts such as biology, geology or material science, bräunliche Verfärbungen or bräunliche Tönungen may be used to denote brownish coloration that is not pure brown. The degree of brown can be intensified with qualifiers such as hellbräunlich or dunkelbräunlich.

Nominalization is possible but rare; das Bräunliche can refer to the brownish coloration in a general sense rather than to a specific color, and is typically found in stylistic or specialized uses.

Related terms include bräunlich (the base adjective), bräunig (less common synonym), and other color descriptors formed with the -lich suffix. The term is part of standard German color vocabulary and does not denote a strict pigment standard; exact shade is usually clarified by additional modifiers or a color system reference.

See also: Braun, bräunlich, bräunig, Färbung, Farblehre.