tawny
/ˈtɔni/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.77 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.
Transitive verb
noun
Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name).
Countable; Uncountable
noun
Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name).
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "And if any of your nation attempte once to ſtoppe me in my iorney now towards Calais, […] I in my defence ſhall colour and make red your tawny ground with the effuſion of chriſtian bloud: […]"
- "The VVooſell cock, ſo blacke of hevve, / VVith Orange tavvny bill, / The Throſtle, vvith his note ſo true, / The VVren, vvith little quill."
- "Come, vve muſt haue you turne Fiddler againe, ſlaue, 'get a Baſe Violin at your backe, and march in a Tavvnie Coate, vvith one ſleeue, to Gooſe-faire, and then you'll knovve vs; […]"
- "To the Queen he gave […] a ſmall Box full of large Needles; then he gave her ſome courſe brovvn Thread, and ſhovv'd her hovv to thred the Needle and ſovv any Thing together vvith the Thread; all vvhich ſhe admired exceedingly, and call'd her Tavvny Maids of Honour about her, that they might learn alſo."
- "[T]he vvatch-dogs and aſſembled ſvvains / Have driv'n a tavvny lion from the ſtalls, […]"
- "[T]he head waiter inquired with respectful solicitude whether that port, being a light and tawny wine, was suited to his taste, or whether he would wish to try a fruity port with greater body."
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Middle English tauni, tawne (“having a brownish-orange colour”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman taune, tawné, and Old French tané, tanné, tanney (“of a tan colour”), an adjective use of the past participle of taner (“to turn hide into leather, tan”), from tan (“pulped oak bark used to tan leather, tanbark”), ultimately from Proto-Celtic *tannos (“green oak”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)dʰnwos, *(s)dʰonu (“fir”). The -aw- spelling (also -au- in Middle English) seems to have been due to the pronunciation of Old French tané. The verb is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Breton tann * Medieval Latin tannāre (“to dye a tawny color; to tan”) * Old Irish caerthann (“rowan”)
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: tauni, taune, tané, *tannos, *(s)dʰnwos, tawné
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtɔni/
- British English: /ˈtɔːni/