Etymology

Noun

1. A coarse, reddish-brown, homespun fabric.
2. Country dress; homespun cloth.
3. A reddish-brown color.

4. Variety of apple of russet-colored, rough skin.
5. Variety of potato with dark gray-brown, rough skin.

Adjective

1. Having a reddish-brown color.
2. Gray or ash-colored (antiquated usage).

   "Russet-pated" (gray hair). Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream, iii. 2.

3. Rustic, homespun, coarse, plain.

   Shakespeare, Loves Labour's Lost, V. 2

4. "Condition of leather when it is finished, excepting the operations of coloring and polishing the surface." (From 1880s British/American dictionary.)