tawny

Meaning

Adj

Of a light brown to brownish orange colour.

Verb

1. To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.
2. To become a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn.

Noun

1. A light brown to brownish orange colour.
2. A light brown to brownish orange colour.
3. Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name).
4. Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name).
5. In full tawny port: a sweet, fortified port wine which is blended and matured in wooden casks.
6. (obsolete) A fabric of a light brown to brownish orange colour.
7. (obsolete) A person with skin of a brown colour.
8. Tawny frogmouth.
9. Tawny owl.

Synonyms

brown

swarthy

reddish-brown

light brown

dark

dark-skinned

red

tawny-brown

tan

tanned

weathered

yellowish

reddish brown

yellow-brown

reddish-yellow

orangey brown

deepbrown

goldcoloured

yellow-red

black

darkcolored

chestnut

🌰

dusky

fallow

reddish

ruddy

russet

swart

Hyphenated as

taw‧ny

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈtɔːni/

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”)