What does “șaten” mean in Romanian?

Romanian has a dedicated word for brown hair: șaten. You wouldn’t reach for maro, the everyday word for “brown” (a brown bag, brown shoes) — that sounds wrong on hair. Șaten covers the whole chestnut-to-brunette range, and it’s the natural answer when someone asks whether they look better with brown or blonde locks: șaten sau blond?

Unlike invariable maro, șaten behaves like a normal Romanian adjective and agrees with what it describes: a man is șaten, a woman șatenă, and the plurals are șateni / șatene. It was borrowed from French châtain, which traces back to châtaigne, “chestnut” — so the color is literally named after the nut, exactly as English “chestnut hair” is. You’ll also hear shades spelled out: șaten deschis (light brown) and șaten închis (dark brown).