Leave it to the French to distinguish between the male and female. And it means that you must distinguish as well . . . at least on the brunette end.
While the British still adhere to the difference between blond and blonde, American usage has veered toward simply using blond.
That is not the case with brunet/brunette. That distinction remains.
As always, if you use blonde once in your story to refer to a female with blonde hair, you must remain consistent.
Exploring Later . . .
You may also want to explore other gender-based word confusions such as “Alumna versus Alumnus“, “Attach vs Attaché vs Attachée“, “Chargé d’affaires vs Chargée d’affaires“, “Cher, Chéri versus Chère, Chérie“, “Confidant vs Confidante vs Confident“, “Fiancé versus Fiancée“, “Frances versus Francis“, “Petit versus Petite“, and/or “Protégé versus Protégée“.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
If you found this post on “Blond(e)s, Brunet(te)s” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Post Contents | |
| Blond | Blonde |
|---|---|
Boy Eating a Watermelon by RIA Novosti archive, image #569736 / Ryumkin is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — He’s male with light-colored hair, therefore, he’s blond. |
Princess Amelia by Thomas Lawrence is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — She is a cute blonde. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective; Noun
Plural: blonds |
Adjective; Noun
Plural: blondes |
| MALE
Adjective: [Hair] Fair or pale yellow [Wood and other substances] Light in color or tone Noun: |
FEMALE
Adjective: [Hair] Fair or pale yellow Noun: [Textiles; a.k.a. blonde lace] A French pillow lace, originally of unbleached cream-colored Chinese silk, later of bleached or black-dyed silk |
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: Do you think his hair is really that blond? He has blond hair and blue eyes. I just love blond furniture. Noun: She’s off dancing with that tall blond. |
Adjective: Mary is a beautiful blonde. She dyed her hair blonde last week. Noun: A beautiful blonde stepped onto the stage. They say blondes have more fun. “Early versions of blonde lace were very light and delicate, with small floral motifs widely scattered on a delicate net background” (Dreamstress). |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: blondish
Noun: blondness |
|
| History of the Word: | |
| Late 15th century from French blond, blonde, from the medieval Latin blundus meaning yellow, perhaps from the Germanic.
By the mid-17th century and earlier, blond was used for both men and women. It wasn’t until the late-17th century in France that a distinction was made between the sexes. |
|
As for those dark-haired beauties . . .
| Brunet | Brunette |
|---|---|
_m.harandi01.JPG) — |
 |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Adjective; Noun
Plural: brunets |
Adjective; Noun
Plural: brunettes |
| MALE
Adjective: [Hair] Dark brown Noun: |
FEMALE
Adjective: [Hair] Dark brown Noun: |
| Examples: | |
| Adjective: I do love a man with brunet hair. Noun: Harandi is a gorgeous brunet. I prefer brunets. |
Adjective: Mary is a beautiful brunette. Why don’t they ever tell brunette jokes? She’s a gorgeous, green-eyed brunette. Noun: There were three brunettes who came through here. She’s a brunette this week. |
| History of the Word: | |
| Mid-16th century in France brunette began to be used as a diminutive form of brun to refer to little brown-haired girl and has evolved to simply refer to all women with dark brown hair. | |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Blond(e)s, Brunet(te)s
Apple Dictionary.com
The Dreamstress. “Terminology: What is Blonde Lace?” 20 Dec 2012. Web. 25 Oct 2022, <https://thedreamstress.com/2012/12/terminology-what-is-blonde-lace/>.
The Free Dictionary: blonde
Pinterest Photo Credits
American Gothic by Grant Wood is in the public domain courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, via Wikimedia Commons. Famous Paintings Created by Bored Coworkers is courtesy of Eat Liver.
Revised as of 17 Apr 2024
By: Kathy Davie