{{Short description|Presence of abundant hair between the eyebrows}}thumb|Close up of unibrows A '''unibrow''' (or '''monobrow'''; called '''''synophrys''''' in medicine) is a single eyebrow created when the two eyebrows meet in the middle above the bridge of the nose.<ref>{{cite web|title = confluent eyebrow|url = http://www.thefreedictionary.com/confluent+eyebrow|website = TheFreeDictionary.com|access-date = 2016-02-02}}</ref> The hair above the bridge of the nose is of the same color and thickness as the eyebrows, such that they converge to form one uninterrupted line of hair.
== History == The word ''monobrow'' first appeared in print in 1968,<ref>{{cite web|title = mono-brow, n.|url = https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/246082|website = www.oed.com|access-date = 2020-08-14}}</ref> and the adjectival form ''monobrowed'' followed in 1973, in Martin Amis' novel ''The Rachel Papers''.<ref>{{cite web|title = mono-browed, adj.|url = https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/252417|website = www.oed.com|access-date = 2020-08-14}}</ref> The first known use of the word ''unibrow'' was in 1981.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Chisholm|first=Elise T.|date=24 Nov 1981|title=How Brooke Shields is raising eyebrows again|page=9|work=Evening Sun|location=Baltimore, MD|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/372988650/?terms=unibrow&match=1|access-date=12 Mar 2021}}</ref>
== Culture and beauty == {{multiple image|perrow = 2|total_width=250 | image1 = Sharipov.jpg | alt1 = Image of Salizhan Sharipov | image2 = Anthony Davis pre-game (cropped).jpg | alt2 = Image of Anthony Davis | footer = Kyrgyz Cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov (left), NBA All-Star player, Anthony Davis (right) }} Some nations prize the unibrow. It is a sign of beauty among Baluchi Omanis, whose women sometimes draw a black line joining the brows as a part of their routine makeup to fake a unibrow. A study found the prevalence of synophrys to be at 11.87% in the Omani population.<ref>{{cite journal | pmc=5596643 | date=2017 | last1=Kumar | first1=P. | title=Synophrys: Epidemiological Study | journal=International Journal of Trichology | volume=9 | issue=3 | pages=105–107 | doi=10.4103/ijt.ijt_14_17 | doi-access=free | pmid=28932060 }}</ref> In Tajikistan, where the unibrow is similarly viewed as attractive, some women dry and extract an herb known locally as ''usma'' and daub it onto their brows to mimic one.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/tajikistan/101126/unibrow-central-asia-fashion|title=Where the unibrow reigns|last=Elder|first=Miriam|date=November 27, 2010|newspaper=Global Post|access-date=November 13, 2011}}</ref> Urban women may do the same with a kohl liner or a kajal pen.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mannaerts |first=Pascal |date=28 February 2022 |title=Life on the "Roof of the World" |work=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20160930-an-ancient-route-through-the-clouds-}}</ref>
[[File:The 6th Duke of Westminster Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster]] [[File:Brian MacDonell (cropped).jpg|thumb|New Zealand politician Brian MacDonell]] [[File:Javokhir_Sindarov_(cropped).jpg|thumb|Chess Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov]] The unibrow has largely been seen as undesirable in the Americas and Europe, with the hairs often plucked, shaved, or waxed away.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.konbini.com/us/lifestyle/positive-effects-of-embracing-unibrow/|title=People Are Embracing The Unibrow – Here's Why It's A Good Thing|last=Adame|first=Amanda|date=2017-05-25|work=Konbini United States|access-date=2018-08-27|language=en-US|archive-date=2018-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103144455/http://www.konbini.com/us/lifestyle/positive-effects-of-embracing-unibrow/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/shortcuts/2017/may/03/why-its-finally-cool-to-have-a-monobrow|title=Why it's finally cool to have a monobrow|last=Usborne|first=Simon|date=2017-05-03|website=the Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-08-27}}</ref> Exceptions include the artist Frida Kahlo, famous for her unibrow, which she often depicted in self-portraits,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shamelessmag.com/blog/entry/an-open-letter-to-the-ago-about-frida-kahlos-unib|title=An Open Letter to the AGO About Frida Kahlo's Unibrow – Shameless Magazine|website=shamelessmag.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.net-a-porter.com/porter/article-633ccbb7977517f1/lifestyle/culture|title=Why Frida Kahlo's unibrow is important|website=NET-A-PORTER}}</ref> and the Greek-Cypriot model Sophia Hadjipanteli.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/beauty/102805785/meet-the-model-owning-her-unibrow|title=Meet the model 'owning' her unibrow|website=Stuff|date=4 April 2018}}</ref>
The unibrow is also the trademark of the NBA player Anthony Davis,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/anthony-davis-trademarks-unibrow-2012-6?r=US&IR=T|title=Anthony Davis Trademarked His Unibrow|website=Business Insider Australia|date=26 June 2012}}</ref> the football player Marouane Fellaini, and the YouTuber ElectroBOOM. The boxer Roberto Elizondo famously sported a unibrow during his professional career.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://234fight.com/boxers-from-the-past/roberto-elizondo-boxer-wiki-profile/|title=Roberto Elizondo Boxer – Wiki, Profile, Boxrec|date=7 December 2017}}</ref>
== Medicine == === Genetics === The unibrow is a genetic trait<ref>{{cite web|title = Human Traits|url = http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/jiwilliams/Human_Traits.htm|website = faculty.southwest.tn.edu|access-date = 2016-02-02|archive-date = 2016-01-23|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160123190918/http://faculty.southwest.tn.edu/jiwilliams/Human_Traits.htm|url-status = dead}}</ref> associated with the PAX3 gene; rare mutations of PAX3 have been shown to cause Waardenburg syndrome type 1 (85% of patients with this condition have a unibrow).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-the-genetic-origin-of-the-monobrow-and-other-hair-traits-55548|title=How we discovered the genetic origin of the 'monobrow' and other hair traits|last=Adhikari|first=Kaustubh|work=The Conversation|access-date=2018-08-27|language=en}}</ref>
=== Medical conditions === A unibrow is part of normal human variation, but can also stem from developmental disorders. A unibrow is a recognized feature of Cornelia De Lange syndrome, a genetic disorder whose main features include moderate to severe learning difficulties, limb abnormalities such as oligodactyly (fewer than normal fingers or toes), and phocomelia (malformed limbs), and facial abnormalities including a long philtrum (the slight depression/line between the nose and mouth).
Other medical conditions associated with a unibrow include:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Synophrys (Concept Id: C0431447) |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/medgen/?term=unibrow |access-date=2023-12-01 |website=www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |language=en}}</ref>
* 3MC syndrome 1 * Acromegaloid facial appearance syndrome * Acromesomelic dysplasia 4 * Amaurosis-hypertrichosis syndrome * Arrhinia with choanal atresia and microphthalmia syndrome * Autosomal recessive spinocerebellar ataxia 17 * Blepharophimosis-impaired intellectual development syndrome * Blepharophimosis-ptosis-esotropia-syndactyly-short stature syndrome * Brachycephaly, trichomegaly, and developmental delay * Chromosome 1p36 deletion syndrome * Coffin-Siris syndrome 12 * Cognitive impairment – coarse facies – heart defects – obesity – pulmonary involvement – short stature – skeletal dysplasia syndrome * Congenital muscular hypertrophy-cerebral syndrome thumb|Unibrow in Cornelia de Lange syndrome * Cornelia de Lange syndrome 1–5 * Corpus callosum agenesis-abnormal genitalia syndrome * Cortical dysplasia, complex, with other brain malformations 11 * Deafness, cataract, impaired intellectual development, and polyneuropathy * Deficiency of transaldolase * DeSanto-Shinawi syndrome due to WAC point mutation * Developmental and epileptic encephalopathy 23, 66, 83, 84, 85 (with or without midline brain defects), 100, and 105 (with hypopituitarism) * Developmental delay with variable intellectual disability and dysmorphic facies * Developmental delay, impaired speech, and behavioral abnormalities * Diamond-Blackfan anemia 21 * Early-onset progressive diffuse brain atrophy-microcephaly-muscle weakness-optic atrophy syndrome * Epilepsy, X-linked 2, with or without impaired intellectual development and dysmorphic features * Epilepsy-telangiectasia syndrome * Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis and neurodevelopmental syndrome * Fontaine progeroid syndrome * Goldberg-Shprintzen megacolon syndrome * Growth delay due to insulin-like growth factor I resistance * Hajdu-Cheney syndrome * Hennekam lymphangiectasia-lymphedema syndrome 3 * Holoprosencephaly 5, 7, and 11 [[File:Amentia Plate XX (2).jpg|thumb|Hydrocephalic man with a unibrow]] * Hypotonia, ataxia, and delayed development syndrome * Intellectual developmental disorder 61 * Intellectual developmental disorder with or without peripheral neuropathy * Intellectual developmental disorder, autosomal dominant 64 and 65 * Intellectual developmental disorder, autosomal recessive 68 * Intellectual developmental disorder, X-linked, syndromic, with pigmentary mosaicism and coarse facies * Intellectual disability, autosomal dominant 29, 30, 34, 43, 48, and 52 * Intellectual disability, autosomal recessive 5, 13, 16, 45, 46, and 61 * Intellectual disability, X-linked 21, 73, 97, and 106 * Intellectual disability, X-linked, syndromic 33 * Intellectual disability-brachydactyly-Pierre Robin syndrome * Intellectual disability-facial dysmorphism syndrome due to SETD5 haploinsufficiency * Joubert syndrome 35 * KBG syndrome * Kleefstra syndrome 1 * Lissencephaly 6 with microcephaly * Macrothrombocytopenia-lymphedema-developmental delay-facial dysmorphism-camptodactyly syndrome * Mandibulofacial dysostosis-macroblepharon-macrostomia syndrome * Marshall-Smith syndrome * Microcephaly 4, primary, autosomal recessive * Midface hypoplasia, hearing impairment, elliptocytosis, and nephrocalcinosis * Mitochondrial complex 4 deficiency, nuclear type 20 * Mitochondrial complex III deficiency nuclear type 7 thumb|Unibrow in MPS-III * Mucopolysaccharidosis, MPS-III-A to -D * Neurodevelopmental disorder with dysmorphic facies and variable seizures * Neurodevelopmental disorder with facial dysmorphism, absent language, and pseudo-pelger-huet anomaly * Neurodevelopmental disorder with growth retardation, dysmorphic facies, and corpus callosum abnormalities * Neurodevelopmental disorder with microcephaly, short stature, and speech delay * Neurodevelopmental disorder with severe motor impairment and absent language * Neurodevelopmental disorder with spasticity and poor growth * Neurodevelopmental disorder with spasticity, cataracts, and cerebellar hypoplasia * Periventricular nodular heterotopia 9 * Pontocerebellar hypoplasia type 7, 8, and 10 * Primrose syndrome * Severe feeding difficulties-failure to thrive-microcephaly due to ASXL3 deficiency syndrome * Sialuria * Skin creases, congenital symmetric circumferential, 2 * Smith-Magenis syndrome * Spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia, Genevieve type * Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, sensorineural hearing loss, impaired intellectual development, and leber congenital amaurosis * Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Chudley-Schwartz type * Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Nascimento type * Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Siderius type * Syndromic X-linked intellectual disability Snyder type * Trigonocephaly 1 * Uruguay Faciocardiomusculoskeletal syndrome * Waardenburg syndrome types 1, 2A, and 3 * Wiedemann-Steiner syndrome * Zimmermann-Laband syndrome 1, 2, and 3
== See also == * Glabella
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{Commons-inline|Category:Unibrows|Unibrows}}
{{Accessory organs of the eye}} {{Human hair}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Eyebrow