Fawn
adj, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A young deer.
"The city recently carried out a deer census, determining there are 313 stags (males), 798 does (females) and 214 fawns (babies) in Nara Park."
- 2 A servile cringe or bow. intransitive, rare
- 3 a young deer wordnet
- 4 A pale brown colour tinted with yellow, like that of a fawn.
- 5 Base flattery. intransitive
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- 6 a color or pigment varying around a light grey-brown color wordnet
- 7 The young of an animal; a whelp. obsolete
"she [the tigress] rageth upon the shore and the sands, for the losse of her fawnes"
- 1 To give birth to a fawn. intransitive
- 2 To show devotion or submissiveness by wagging its tail, nuzzling, licking, etc. intransitive
- 3 have fawns wordnet
- 4 To exhibit affection toward someone. broadly, figuratively, intransitive
- 5 try to gain favor by cringing or flattering wordnet
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- 6 To attempt to please someone. broadly, figuratively, intransitive
- 7 show submission or fear wordnet
- 8 To seek favour by flattery and obsequious behaviour. broadly, derogatory, figuratively, intransitive
"You showed your teeth like apes, and fawned like hounds."
- 1 Of the fawn colour. not-comparable
Example
More examples"The fawn bolted from its hiding place."
Etymology
From Middle English fawne, fowne, foun, from Old French faon, foon, feon, from Vulgar Latin *fētōnem, from Latin fētus (“offspring, young”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁(y)- (“to suckle, nurse”). Displaced native Old English hindċealf (literally “deer calf”). Doublet of fetus.
From Middle English fawnen, from Old English fagnian, alternative form of fæġnian (“to celebrate”), whence Middle English fainen, English fain. Cognate with Old Norse fagna. See also fain.
Related phrases
More for "fawn"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.