What does "dun" mean?
A brownish grey colour.
Dun
/dʌn/ adj, intj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, intj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A brownish grey colour.
- Grammar: dun is listed as adj, intj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: grayish brown, account, annoy, apply pressure.
- Useful contrasts: bright, bright color, colorful.
- Usage evidence: “Saved your life! I have heard of that story,” said the lady. “The Lord Keeper was scared by a dun cow, and he takes the young fellow who killed her for Guy of Warwick: any butcher from Haddington may soon have an equal claim on your hospitality.”
How to use "dun"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "dun" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "dun" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "dun" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "dun" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "dun" is acting as adj, intj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "grayish brown" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "dun", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A brownish grey colour. uncountable, usually
- 2 A collector of debts, especially one who is insistent and demanding. countable
""The truth is, Mr. Curl, I cannot write when I am plagued about trifles; and a tiresome dun this morning put to flight every idea that I had in the world." "Mr. Maynard," said the bookseller, in a solemn tone, "it is very wrong to run in debt.""
- 3 A newly hatched, immature mayfly; a mayfly subimago. countable
"Also, duns are dull and generally sober colored, whilst spinners are more brightly colored and shining and their wings are clear and transparent."
- 4 An ancient or medieval fortification; especially a hill-fort in Scotland or Ireland.
"Pampedun, or Pandon, was probably a place of residence from the earliest times; its sheltered situation for boats, and proximity to the ancient way over the river, protected perhaps by a dun or camp, on the height above [...] possibly gave origin to the ancient name of the place, Pampedun, from the British pant, a hollow, and dun, a fort or camp, Pant-y-dun."
- 5 A mound or small hill.
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 Alternative form of dhoon (“Himalayan valley”). alt-of, alternative
- 7 a state legislative assembly Malaysia
- 8 horse of a dull brownish grey color wordnet
- 9 An urgent request or demand of payment.
"Miss Hoppin received a dun for volume 9 1840–1 which Mr. James McConnell, (who now pays the above) is sure was paid."
- 10 A fly made to resemble the mayfly subimago. countable
"We have besides for this Month a little Dun call'd a whirling Dun (though it is not the whirling Dun indeed, which is one of the best Flies we have) and for this the dubbing must be of the bottom fur of a Squirrels tail and the wing of the grey feather of a Drake."
- 11 A structure in the Orkney or Shetland islands or in Scotland consisting of a roundhouse surrounded by a circular wall; a broch.
"Smaller than the broch was the dun, another type of stone-built 'roundhouse'."
- 12 a state legislative assembly seat Malaysia
- 13 a color or pigment varying around a light grey-brown color wordnet
Verb
- 1 To ask or beset a debtor for payment. transitive
"And hath she sent so soon to dun?"
- 2 Eye dialect spelling of done: past participle of do. alt-of, informal, nonstandard, pronunciation-spelling
"Now, ya dun it!"
- 3 To cure, as codfish, by laying them, after salting, in a pile in a dark place, covered with saltgrass or a similar substance. dated, transitive
"Dun-fish are of a superior quality for the table, and are cured in such a manner as to give them a dun or brownish color. Fish for dunning are caught early in spring, and sometimes February, at the Isle of Shoals."
- 4 make a dun color wordnet
- 5 To harass by continually repeating e.g. a request. transitive
"Rich bitches who had to be dunned for their milk bills would pay him right now."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 Pronunciation spelling of don't: contraction of do + not. alt-of, informal, nonstandard, pronunciation-spelling
"Fwhere's he come from, I dun'no'. French or English, I dun'no'. But a gintleman born, I know."
- 7 cure by salting wordnet
- 8 persistently ask for overdue payment wordnet
- 9 treat cruelly wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Of a brownish grey colour. not-comparable
"Come, thick Night, And pall thee in the dunneſt ſmoake of Hell, That my keene Knife ſee not the Wound it makes, Nor Heauen peepe through the Blanket of the darke, To cry, hold, hold."
Adjective
- 1 of a dull greyish brown to brownish grey color wordnet
Intj
- 1 Imitating a deep bass note, such as that found in suspenseful music.
"How would you deal with that power? (Dun, dun, DUN! Insert dramatic music here.)"
Proper Noun
- 1 A river in Wiltshire and Berkshire, England, which flows into the River Kennet.
- 2 A river in Wiltshire and Hampshire, England, which flows into the River Test.
- 3 An alternative name for the River Don in Yorkshire, England.
- 4 A river in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, alternatively named the Glendun River.
- 5 A settlement and parish in Angus council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NO6659).
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A surname
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"“Saved your life! I have heard of that story,” said the lady. “The Lord Keeper was scared by a dun cow, and he takes the young fellow who killed her for Guy of Warwick: any butcher from Haddington may soon have an equal claim on your hospitality.”"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "dun"?
Common synonyms include: grayish brown, account, annoy, apply pressure, bay, bayard.
How do you use "dun" in a sentence?
“Saved your life! I have heard of that story,” said the lady. “The Lord Keeper was scared by a dun cow, and he takes the young fellow who killed her for Guy of Warwick: any butcher from Haddington may soon have an equal claim on your hospitality.”
How do you pronounce "dun"?
Pronounced /dʌn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English dun, donn, dunne, from Old English dunn (“dun, dingy brown, bark-colored, brownish black”), from Proto-West Germanic *duʀn, from Proto-Germanic *duznaz, *dusnaz (“brown, yellow”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“to smoke, raise dust”). Cognate with Old Saxon dun (“brown, dark”), Old High German tusin (“ash-gray, dull brown, pale yellow, dark”), Old Norse dunna (“female mallard; duck”). Alternative etymology derives the Old English word from Brythonic (compare Middle Welsh dwnn (“dark (red)”)), from Proto-Celtic *dusnos (compare Old Irish donn and Scottish Gaelic donn (“brown”)), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰews- (compare Old Saxon dosan (“chestnut brown”)). More at dusk.
Etymology 2
Unknown; perhaps a variant of din. Several sources suggest origin from Joe Dun, the name of a bailiff known for arresting debtors, but this is controversial.
Etymology 3
Uncertain; likely from the color.
Etymology 4
From Irish dún or Scottish Gaelic dùn, from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“fortress”). Cognate with Welsh dinas (“city”). Doublet of town.
Etymology 5
See do.
Etymology 6
Likely from the color of fish so prepared.
Etymology 7
See dune.
Etymology 8
Imitative.
Etymology 9
Borrowed from Hindustani दून (dūn) / دُون (dūn). False cognate of dun (sense 4) / doon, and dun (sense 7) / dune
Etymology 10
* As a Scottish surname, from the placename Dun, Angus, itself probably from Scottish Gaelic dùn (“fortress”). * As an English surname, variant of Dunn. * As a Dutch surname, from the adjective dun (“thin”). * As a Chinese surname, Mandarin form of surname 頓 /顿 meaning "pause" or 敦 meaning "sincere."
Etymology 11
Borrowed from Malay DUN.