Sautéeing, softening, frying "until golden", browning, and caramelizing are all (consecutive) stages of frying onions -- approximately something like 5 min, 8 min, 12-15 min, 20-25 min, 40-45 min.
They are all entirely different things, and recipe writers can be maddeningly imprecise about which one they actually mean. They all have different tastes and/or textures.
Scientifically sure, but nobody's going to say "brown the onions" if they mean to caramelize. Also you should never caramelize if it just says to brown.
Browning is about color and deepening flavor, caramelizing is specifically about sweetening on top of that, hence the name.
Sautéeing, softening, frying "until golden", browning, and caramelizing are all (consecutive) stages of frying onions -- approximately something like 5 min, 8 min, 12-15 min, 20-25 min, 40-45 min.
They are all entirely different things, and recipe writers can be maddeningly imprecise about which one they actually mean. They all have different tastes and/or textures.