fauve

Meaning

Adj

1. tawny
2. (archaic, rare) savage, fierce (having the ferocity of a wild animal)
3. (broadly, rare) dangerous, wild
4. fauvist

Noun

1. (dated, masculine) tawny-coloured animal
2. (broadly, masculine) a big cat, such as a lion or lynx
3. (broadly, masculine) beast, wild animal, especially fierce, aggressive, or predatory. Usually implies adding big bears like the Black, Brown and Polar ones. Sometimes extends up to the wolverine, wolf, etc. More rarely, big, aggressive and/or hard to meet cervid game might go under this umbrella term as well.
4. (figuratively, masculine) a violent or aggressive man or woman
5. (masculine) a brownish orange color, tawny
6. (masculine, obsolete) examiner

Concepts

tawny

fawn

wild cat

big cat

tan

wild animal

fawn-coloured

beast of prey

wildcat

yellowish

family Felidae

ochre

Felidae

cat

😺

tawny-brown

Synonyms

chat sauvage

bête

chat

😺

félin

😺

jaunâtre

animal sauvage

bête de proie

bête féroce

felidae

alezan

🌰

félidé

Pronounced as (IPA)

/fov/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French fauve, from Old French falve, from Late Latin falvus, a borrowing from Frankish *falu, *falw- (compare Dutch vaal, English fallow and German falb), from Proto-Germanic *falwaz (“pale, grey”). The adjectival sense of "savage, fierce" comes from the noun sense "wild animal," which is in turn a shortening of bête au pelage fauve (“animal with tawny fur”).