As brown as a berry


What's the meaning of the phrase 'As brown as a berry'?

Entirely or very brown; often referring to a suntanned skin.

What's the origin of the phrase 'As brown as a berry'?

From Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, (the Monk’s Tale), 1386-1400:

He was a lord full fat and in good point;
His eyen stepe and rolling in his head
That stemed as a fornice of a led;
His botes souple, his hors in gret estat,
Now certainly he was a sayre prelat.
He was not pale as a forpined gost;
A fat swan loved he best of any rost;

His palfrey was as broune as is a bery.

[Note: a palfrey is a horse]

See other ‘as x as y similes‘.

Trend of as brown as a berry in printed material over time

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

Gary Martin

Writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.
As brown as a berry

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