Tawny

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtÉ”ni/

• Rhymes: -ɔːni

Origin

From Middle English, from Anglo-Norman tauné, from Old French tané, past participle of taner ("to tan"), from tan ("tanbark, tawny color"), from Gaulish tanno 'holm oak' (compare Breton tann, Old Irish caerthann 'rowan'), from Indo-European *dhenh-; akin to German Tann 'woods', Tanne 'fir', Hittite tanau 'fir', Avestan thanwarə (g. thanwanō) 'bow', Sanskrit dhánus (g. dhánvanus) 'bow', Latin femur (g. feminis) 'thigh', possibly Greek thámnos 'thicket'.

Full definition of tawny

Adjective

1. Of a light brown to brownish orange colour
• 1908, Kenneth Grahame, They fell a-twittering among themselves once more, and this time their intoxicating babble was of violet seas, tawny sands, and lizard-haunted walls.

Synonyms

Noun