auburn [LME] The root of our word auburn is Latin albus, which actually meant ‘white’. Based on this, medieval Latin formed the word alburnus ‘whitish’, which in Old French became alborne (or auborne) ‘yellowish white’ and was subsequently adopted into English. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was spelt in a number of different ways, including abron, abrune, and abroun, and these spellings must have put into people’s minds the idea that auburn was in fact a kind of brown. Its meaning gradually changed from ‘yellowish-white’ to ‘golden-brown or reddish-brown’. See also album, baize, brown.