tawny

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈtɔni/ UK /ˈtɔːni/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
of a warm sandy or yellowish-brown colour

The lion's tawny coat blended with the dry savanna grass.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · of a warm sandy or... tan fawn ochre fulvousyellowish-brownsandy

Word family

Derived forms tawniness

Related forms tan

Simplified etymology

Tawny entered English in the Middle English period from Old French tauné, meaning “tanned.” It belongs to the same word family as tan.

Etymology

From Middle English tauny, from Anglo-Norman tauné and Old French tané ('tanned, tan-coloured'), past participle of taner ('to tan'), from Medieval Latin tannare.

tané Old French tannare Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# tawny

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɔni/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɔːni/

## Meanings
1. of a warm sandy or yellowish-brown colour

## Examples
- The lion's tawny coat blended with the dry savanna grass.

## Synonyms
- tan
- fawn
- ochre
- fulvous
- yellowish-brown
- sandy

## Derived Forms
- tawniness

## Related Forms
- tan

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tané
- Root: tannare

## Etymology
From Middle English tauny, from Anglo-Norman tauné and Old French tané ('tanned, tan-coloured'), past participle of taner ('to tan'), from Medieval Latin tannare.

## AI Etymology
Tawny is from Middle English tauny, from Anglo-Norman tauné and Old French tané ('tanned, tan-coloured'), past participle of taner ('to tan'), from Medieval Latin tannare. Important recorded forms include tané (Old French) and tannare (Latin). Morphologically, the ending or combining element adapts the older base to the present English part of speech while keeping the historical sense visible. The modern sense continues the older lexical line without requiring a separate origin. In current use it covers of a warm sandy or yellowish-brown colour. The wider family includes derived forms such as tawniness and related words such as tan.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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