What does "tawny" mean?
A light brown to brownish orange colour.
Tawny
/ˈtɔːni/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A light brown to brownish orange colour.
- Grammar: tawny is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: avellane, beige, bison, brown.
- Useful contrasts: colorless, pale.
- Usage evidence: What color is your urine: bright, tawny, reddish or golden brown?
How to use "tawny"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A light brown to brownish orange colour. countable, uncountable
"Neere to Canuſia, the ſheepe be deepe yellovv or tavvnie; and about Tarentum, they are of a brovvne and duſkiſh colour."
- 2 A light brown to brownish orange colour.; Synonym of tenné (“a rarely-used tincture of orange or bright brown”). countable, specifically, uncountable
"[T]he Herehaught [herald] muſt have a ſinguler reſpect to the face of him that ſhould haue the Armes, vvhere he ſhal vvel perceiue in vvhat ſeaſõ of the yere, his ovvn complexion vvill ſerue him to do beſt ſeruice in: […] If in Somer, either a Hound or Salamandra, or ſome part of them, of the colour Bruske, vvhich is betvveene Geules and tavvney."
- 3 Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name). countable, uncountable
"Iohn VVittie his great tavvny Gilloflovver is for forme of grovving, in leafe and flovver altogether like vnto the ordinary tavvny, the flovver onely, becauſe it is the faireſt and greateſt that any other hath nourſed vp, maketh the difference, as alſo that it is of a faire deepe ſcarlet colour. There are alſo diuers other Tavvnies, either lighter or ſadder, either leſſe or more double, that they cannot be numbered, and all riſing (as I ſaid before) from ſovving the ſeede of ſome of them: […]"
- 4 Something of a light brown or brownish orange colour (particularly if it has the word tawny in its name).; The common bullfinch or Eurasian bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula). countable, uncountable
"TAWNY. A bullfinch. Somerset."
- 5 In full tawny port: a sweet, fortified port wine which is blended and matured in wooden casks. countable, uncountable
"Tawny is the most versatile Port style. The best tawnies are good-quality wines that have faded to a pale garnet or brownish red color during long wood aging. […] We consider 10- and 20-year-old tawnies the best buys; the older ones aren't always worth the extra bucks."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 A fabric of a light brown to brownish orange colour. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"[N]o perſone, or perſones, occupiyng the ſeate of diẽg, ſhal die, or altre into colours, or cauſe to be died, or altred into colours, any wollen clothes, as broune blewes, pieukes, tawnies, or violettes, except the ſame wollẽ clothes be perfeictly boiled, greined or madered vpon the woade, & ſhot with good, and ſufficient corke, or orchal after a due, ſubſtancial, & ſufficient maner of workemanſhip, according to thauncient workmanſhip in time paſt vſed, vpõ peine for euery defalt to forfeite .xx. s̃."
- 7 A person with skin of a brown colour. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"The Tavvnies among vvhom vve came, have VVatered our Soyl, vvith the Blood, of many Hundred of our Inhabitants."
- 8 Tawny frogmouth. countable, uncountable
- 9 Tawny owl. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To cause (someone or something) to have a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn. transitive
"So many friends, their friendſhips daily breake, / That fevve are faithfull, if that fevve be any: / The Sunne ſo ſoone, the painted face vvill tavvny."
- 2 To become a light brown to brownish orange colour; to tan, to tawn. intransitive
"The countenance alone bespoke the years and the cares of John M‘Whirter. The deep wrinkled brow—the cheek plaited, and tawnied in the sun and the frosts of the north— […]"
Adjective
- 1 Of a light brown to brownish orange colour; orangey brown tinged with gold.
"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: […]"
Adjective
- 1 of a light brown to brownish orange color; the color of tanned leather wordnet
Example
"What color is your urine: bright, tawny, reddish or golden brown?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tawny"?
Common synonyms include: avellane, beige, bison, brown, brown earths, browning.
How do you use "tawny" in a sentence?
What color is your urine: bright, tawny, reddish or golden brown?
How do you pronounce "tawny"?
Pronounced /ˈtɔːni/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”)
Etymology 2
From Middle English tauni, tawne (“brownish-orange colour; cloth of this colour; sweet beverage of this colour”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman tawné, and Old French tané, tanné, tanney (“tan colour; cloth of this colour”), from tané (verb): see further at etymology 1. Sense 2.1 (“Eurasian bullfinch”) is due to the brown colour of the female.