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Webster 1913 Edition

Tawny

Taw′ny

,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Tawnier
;
sup
erl.
Tawniest
.]
[F.
tanné
, p. p. of
tanner
to tan. See
Tan
,
Verb.
T.
&
Noun.
Cf.
Tenné
.]
Of a dull yellowish brown color, like things tanned, or persons who are sunburnt;
as,
tawny
Moor or Spaniard; the
tawny
lion
.
“A leopard’s tawny and spotted hide.”
Longfellow.

Webster 1828 Edition

Tawny

TAW'NY

,
Adj.
Of a yellowish dark color, like things tanned, or persons who are sun-burnt; as a tawny Moor or Spaniard; the tawny sons of Numidia; the tawny lion.

Definition 2024

tawny

tawny

English

Adjective

tawny ‎(comparative tawnier, superlative tawniest)

  1. Of a light brown to brownish orange color.
    • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
      They fell a-twittering among themselves once more, and this time their intoxicating babble was of violet seas, tawny sands, and lizard-haunted walls.

Synonyms

Translations

Noun

tawny

  1. A light brown to brownish orange colour.

Translations

Derived terms

Etymology

From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman tawné, from Old French tané, past participle of taner ‎(“to tan”), from tan ‎(“tanbark, tawny color”), from Gaulish tanno ‎(“holm oak”), from Proto-Indo-European *dhenh-. Compare Breton tann, Old Irish caerthann ‎(“rowan”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈtɔːni/
  • Rhymes: -ɔːni

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