place in California; according to Bright, the name is Obsipeño (Chumashan) /pismu'/ "tar, asphalt," literally "the dark stuff," from /piso'/ "to be black, dark."
of a woman, "dark in complexion, having a brownish tone to the skin and hair," 1660s, from French brunette, fem. of brunet, from Old French brunet "brownish, brown-haired, dark-complexioned," fem. diminutive of brun "brown" (12c.), of West Germanic origin, from Proto-Germanic *brunaz (from PIE root *bher- (2) "bright; brown").
As a noun, "woman with dark hair and eyes and of a dark complexion," from 1710. The metathesized form, Old French burnete, is the source of the surname Burnett. Burnete also was used of a wool-dyed cloth of superior quality, originally dark brown.
(also bombasine, bambazine), 1550s, "raw cotton;" 1570s, "twilled or corded dress material woven of silk and wool, always inexpensive and of the same color," from French bombasin (14c.) "cotton cloth," from Medieval Latin bombacinium "silk texture," from Late Latin bombycinium, neuter of bombycinius "silken," from bombyx "silk, silkworm," from Greek bombyx (see bombast). The post-classical transfer of the word from "silk" to "cotton" may reflect the perceived "silk-like" nature of the fabric, or a waning of familiarity with genuine silk in the European Dark Ages, but compare bombast.
"coloring matter in solution," Middle English deie, from Old English deah, deag "a color, hue, tinge," from Proto-Germanic *daugo (source also of Old Saxon dogol "secret," Old High German tougal "dark, hidden, secret," Old English deagol "secret, hidden; dark, obscure," dohs, dox "dusky, dark").
1540s, "act of darkening; state of being made dark," from Latin obscurationem (nominative obscuratio) "a darkening, obscuring," noun of action from past-participle stem of obscurare "to make dark, darken, obscure," from obscurus (see obscure (adj.) ).
