brownstone（n.）
"深色砂岩"，1849年，来自 brown（形容词）+ stone（名词）。它在美国东北部的三叠纪沉积物中被广泛采石，并被广泛用作建筑石材。从1932年开始，它被用作“用棕石装饰的房屋或建筑物的正面墙壁”。
ONLY a few years ago to live in a brownstone front was a badge of distinction in Manhattan. Novelists always had their rich housed in brownstone fronts. There was magic in the name a quarter of a century ago. The brownstone front was the home of the merchant prince. The material had to be mined on the western plains of New Jersey and teamed and lightered to New York at a great cost in those days. O.O. Mclntyre writes there are blocks and blocks of them above Forty-second street, but of late they have fallen into decay. The advent of the luxurious apartment house put them in the shade. Now they are being torn down with ruthless abandon and the last shred of dignity has vanished. [The American Architect, Dec. 8, 1920]
仅仅几年前，在曼哈顿住在棕石正面墙是一种荣誉的象征。小说家总是把他们的富人住在棕石正面墙里。在25年前，这个名字有魔力。棕石正面墙是商业王子的家。这种材料必须在新泽西州的西部平原上开采，然后以巨大的成本运到纽约。O.O. Mclntyre 写道，在四十二街以上有一排排的棕石建筑，但最近它们已经逐渐衰落。豪华公寓的出现使它们黯然失色。现在它们正在被无情地拆除，最后一丝尊严也消失了。[《美国建筑师》，1920年12月8日]
该词起源时间：1849年